


Cosmic Skies

by Kaillingme (Setty94)



Series: Wanderer One Verse [1]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, broken!chankai, mild infidelity but it's not bad i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-09-28 06:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setty94/pseuds/Kaillingme
Summary: Space can be a lonely place, but sometimes love lurks around in the places you'd least expect it.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: R157
> 
> Note: Yes, there is an infidelity tag, but I promise it's not bad. It's more of an exploration of how to deal with feelings when you shouldn't have them. I promise no one gets explicitly hurt and it is not traumatic to either person involved. Don't let the tag scare you away. I tried to handle the concept with as much care as possible ^^
> 
> To the prompter: I apologize if this was not exactly what you wanted, but I kinda saw space au and just went crazy with the prompt! Writing this was the most fun I've had in a while and this fic truly made me ship suyeol way harder than I ever had before, so thank you <3  
>   
> To the readers: I hope you like it ^^ I spent many a late night working on this, getting the timeline right and world building~ It incredibly fun and I would gladly do this a million more times ^^ Also I took liberty with time skips and jumps, please pay attention to the dates :P  
>   
> To my beta: you are the absolute best! you kept me in line and made sure I wasn't being too vague on things or jumping the gun on others. You held my hand and even gushed with me over suyeol and that really means a lot! I had the best experience with you and would gladly work with you again on anything! You were such a delight <3
> 
> To my alpha readers: thank you guys sooooo much! You saved me when I was panicking and thinking that this fic wasn't going to make any sense without context. You guys assuaged my fears and gave me confidence when I needed it most. You guys are both the absolute best ever <3 Thank you so much <3 <3
> 
> To the mods: thank you so much for being patient with me and letting me have the worlds longest extension ever. I don't think I would've had such a pleasant experience had it not been for your undying patience and kindness. You guys are the best <3
> 
> Originally posted: 12/27/18

#### [Flashback 1]: May 13th, Year 1

* * *

The station was beautiful. Much more so than Chanyeol had seen in the photos on the brochure. He stood in the center of the docking level and watched the world of the station move around him. Various types of people rushed to and fro, some in space suits, some in formal suits, and even a few in sweatpants and t-shirts. Maybe space wouldn't feel so foreign after all.

There were others like him, just disembarking off the shuttle and standing around in the grandeur of it all. Across from him, was a large garage-door like entrance, and it was there that he saw his fellow passengers entering. Chanyeol followed behind them, marveling and taking small videos on his wristband to send back to his family and Jongin.

Jongin was supposed to be joining him at the space station in a few short months, but Chanyeol couldn't help but spoil it a bit for him. He narrated quietly to his wristband and kept scanning the dock and making little comments here and there. All he needed to do was make sure he remembered to send the videos. He'd always been a tad bit forgetful.

The hallway leading from the docking area was nondescript. The walls were a cool-toned gray color with bluish lights that lined the ceilings and floors. The floor itself was a reflective white color that made Chanyeol’s shoes and suitcase echo loudly. Normally, he was a bit self-conscious of how loud he was being, but everyone else was just as loud as him...only they were considerably farther ahead than him.

He brought his wrist to his mouth and whispered, much quieter this time, “I wish you could see this in person. This place is amazing. Everything is so minimalist, you'd hate it.”

After ending the video and saving it to send later, Chanyeol found himself – and the rest of his passengers – exiting into a large round room. At the center was a donut shaped desk, with one section of it lifted up. The surface was white, much like the majority of the color scheme the station employed, and glossy. As Chanyeol passed by it, he hummed quietly to himself, thoughts racing with all the possibilities that the near future held.

The group was not left alone in the room for long. Just when Chanyeol sat down in one of the chairs directly in front of the donut desk, a well-dressed man with white blonde hair, stepped inside of the donut desk. He scanned the room first before his gaze landed on Chanyeol where it lingered perhaps a moment too long. Chanyeol wet his lips and stared back. It wasn’t unlike him to be stopped dead in his tracks like this by an incredibly handsome man, but he had a thing going on with Jongin, so this came as quite the unwelcome shock.

“Welcome everyone, to the SM Space Station. I,” the blond pointed to himself and smiled, “am Junmyeon and I will be taking care of your orientation today…”

Junmyeon’s voice faded into the background as Chanyeol found himself focusing on the way his lips formed the words and how his smile made him feel a little warm under the collar. Junmyeon was attractive, in a classic, but powerful type of way. And Chanyeol kind of liked well-dressed men in positions of power. He shook his mind of such thoughts and focused on what Junmyeon was telling the group. Shame made the back of his neck and ears feel hot.

“There are several living quarters on this station and you will be assigned a room based on your profession. Biological sciences are in the east wing of the nineteenth deck. Physical sciences are the western wing of the fifth deck, and so on. If you will open the map on your bands, you will find your room number and directions for getting there,” Junmyeon said with a placid smile. He looked so unreal, but maybe that was just the lighting.

Chanyeol did as he was told and pulled up the map on his wristband. A blue-green screen of pixels was projected just above it. There was a small glowing dot on the eighteenth deck and when Chanyeol pressed it, the map zoomed in to show the number outside the door. It was nothing short of amazing.

“Tomorrow I will be hosting a forum for an upcoming excursion. If you have received information about said excursion, your attendance is  _ very _ welcomed. That'll be all. You can find additional information in the welcome packages in your rooms,” Junmyeon said and then lifted a section of the donut desk.

Yet, the way he said those words made it sound like if Chanyeol didn’t show up, he’d get into trouble, so he was going to ask to be sure. As the rest of the room began to file out, Chanyeol lingered behind, heart thrumming in his chest loudly. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous to just ask a simple question, but when it was just him and Junmyeon in the room, Chanyeol was having a hard time keeping his knees from wobbling.

“Um, Junmyeon?” Chanyeol asked with a quiet voice.

Junmyeon glanced up at him, dark eyes studying his face like he held constellations on his skin. It made Chanyeol’s cheeks warm. “Park? Park Chanyeol?” He clarified Chanyeol’s name and gestured for the two of them to exit the room together.

Chanyeol fell into step beside him and nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Junmyeon let out a slight chuckle, “I didn’t realize you’d be so tall! How can I help you?”

Butterflies exploded in Chanyeol’s stomach and he swallowed before speaking. “I-I was wondering if tomorrow’s forum was mandatory?”

Junmyeon’s eyes crinkled when he laughed. “Not at all, what I meant by your presence being welcomed, was just that. We like having new faces in the audience, and if you’ve been pre-screened for this one, then it really is a once in a lifetime chance. Granted, we say that about all the forums and missions,” he said with a wink.

Chanyeol couldn't tell if he was flirting – if he was  _ hoping  _ he was flirting – or if this was just his personality, but it made his stomach tingle in a way that wasn't exactly comfortable nor uncomfortable. Jongin's face popped in his head and Chanyeol let out a tiny guilty sigh.

When Junmyeon clapped a hand on Chanyeol's arm, he jumped, feeling caught. It colored his face red across the cheeks again and made his ears burn, but he kept his expression neutral. Junmyeon would probably think his face was permanently this shade if he didn’t calm down.

Junmyeon pulled his hand back and brushed himself off, putting visible distance between the two of them. "My apologies," he cleared his throat and smiled. “You should come,” he said and then stopped in front of the lift’s doors. “This is where we part, hope to see you tomorrow, Chanyeol.”


	2. Chapter 2

#### [Present]: October 2nd, Year 1

* * *

Gliese was beautiful, Chanyeol thought to himself as the shuttle slowed to dock onto the satellite station. Down below he could see a gorgeous planet with expansive blue oceans, white tufts of clouds, and a relatively small landmass. That was where they had built the first base, the one that Chanyeol would be staying in while he mapped the skies from the planet below. Sure, astronomists could map the sky better from space, but there was something about looking up at celestial bodies from a planet that had its niche. And Chanyeol being one of the best galactic cartographers, needed to see every angle.

Besides, if humans were looking to settle here, well, they couldn’t make the same mistakes they had made on Mars. No amount of earth-based trees and foliage would make this place habitable. No, they needed to work with what they were given, not try to terraform this planet into Earth 2.0. That was where they messed up with Mars. And no one would ever let them forget it.

The Mars mission had been a large stain on all space endeavors. So many lives just  _ gone _ like that. One collapsed underground bunker had led to a domino effect, collapsing all the rest. The crew hardly had warning and only a few people had survived out of the thousands that were calling the planet home.

Chanyeol blinked as he came out of his martian reverie. The shuttle was shaking uncomfortably as it finished docking, and soon after the captain’s voice came over the speaker and announced that they had arrived. For his first mission, Chanyeol had expected more of a camaraderie onboard the shuttle, but everyone simply gathered their belongings and shuffled onto the station while keeping to themselves. But, Chanyeol guessed it had partly been his fault as well. He never made the offer to get to know his shuttlemates, instead spending his time gazing up at the sky and taking notes. He’d read up on everyone’s dossier but that wasn’t the same as getting to know people in person.

Hopefully, when he was Gliese-side, he’d have more chances, but for now, Chanyeol would have to settle for having the stars as his friends.

"Please file into the satellite station in an orderly fashion. You will be given further instructions when you talk with the mission leader." It was the captain's last message before he crackled off and Chanyeol realized he was alone.

Raising his wrist to his lips, he sent off a quick voice note to Jongin and his family, knowing they wouldn’t get it for a long time due to the fact that the message had to relay across the waypoints in space, but hopefully they’d all know he landed safely and was finally starting the mission. With that out of the way, Chanyeol stepped off the shuttle, giving the cabin one final look and then sighed. It was time.

 

The satellite station was similar to the original station in color scheme. All chromatic and white and sterile. But that was where the similarities stopped. Instead of being deck based, it was a simple revolving disc with a long column-shaped structure in the middle; the space elevator. Now, Chanyeol had heard of the space elevator, but he never really saw one up close despite the fact that the moon back on earth had one. Even as a kid he’d been fascinated by it, but never had the time between studies and extracurriculars to visit it.

Yet, standing in the loading zone of this satellite station, Chanyeol felt a huge wave of nostalgia rush over him. Gliese was one of the prospective colonization points and to see with his own two eyes just how close they were to completing the first few stages of colonization, was like seeing one of his childhood dreams come true.

“Alright people,” A man with black hair, cropped short on the sides with several lines shaved clean spoke. He looked familiar, but Chanyeol couldn’t quite place where he had seen him before. He had even darker eyes, the kind that made it look like he never really slept much and Chanyeol found himself relating to that. “The space elevator will take you down to about a mile above land. From there you will be attached to a professional who will parachute you down to a safe landing.”

Everyone started glancing between one another and whispering quietly but stopped when the man spoke again. “I will assign you to a partner and your partner will debrief you further on the mission. Each of you has a specific task that you were given upon signing up. Fulfill that task and you get to go home. Fail and you’re stuck here with me until we can get it settled. Sound good? Good.”

The man spoke with such an air of authority that no one dared to contradict him or complain— Chanyeol included. He simply fell into line to be assigned and kept his thoughts to himself. From where they were standing, he could just see the blue-green of the planet below and stared at it. He really wasn’t sure what to expect from a first mission, but sky-diving was not something on that list. Still, Chanyeol went along with it because he wanted to be invited to other missions in the future and that meant being on his best behavior.

A young lady with blondish hair and full bangs standing next to him nudged him and whispered, “Name’s Byulyi, what unit are you assigned to?”

Chanyeol leaned back inconspicuously and whispered, “Celestial Cartography and Navigation, you?”

“Zoology,” she smiled and held out her hand, “Let’s be friends.”

Chanyeol stared at her hand and returned the smile, “Only if you promise to show me some cute animals.” Then he took her hand and shook it, feeling a bit less lonely already.

“Deal!” She said a bit too loudly and then clamped her hand over her mouth.

Chanyeol faced forward as the line moved up. Each member of the crew was dropped one at a time so departure from the station would be slow-moving. He wasn’t set to go for a while, being last in line, and decided to continue the conversation with Byulyi while they waited. They quietly talked about their schooling, reasons for joining the mission and ended on the type of music and food they liked as time went on. Yet, Chanyeol couldn’t help but want to gush to Jongin about Byulyi once he got to his room in the bunker. She was on loan from another station, one of the many deals that the SM station often employed. She was also funny and smart and Chanyeol could already tell she was going to make a good friend.

By the time it was Chanyeol’s turn, he was the last one on the station with the mysterious black-haired man. 

“Park Chanyeol?” The man called out, looking at the holographic list displayed above his wrist.

Chanyeol stepped up to him, “That’s me, yes.”

The man smiled at Chanyeol and snorted. “Cool, you’re with me. I’m Huang Zitao, but you can call me Tao. Let’s get this over with. I need you to strap into your space suit and then these harnesses.” He held up the bright orange harness and Chanyeol balked at it. The thing looked complicated.

“Um,” Chanyeol started as he quickly grabbed a spacesuit from the wall. It suctioned to him and hissed as it compressed his body. He squirmed a bit, still not used to the suit and tugged at it here and there until he was comfortable. Then he grabbed the harness and held it in front of him trying to decipher it.

“Your first time?” Tao asked, an amused smile on his face.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol breathed. “I remember reading about this in the handbook before I was qualified for the mission, but I really…” he trailed as he turned the harness around.

“Here, lemme help you,” Tao smiled, taking the harness and holding it out so Chanyeol could step into it. “It’ll be a little snug here,” he said as he tightened the straps around Chanyeol’s upper thighs, “but that’s how you know you’re safe.”

Once Chanyeol was all suited up, the two of them stepped into the elevator and the descent began. It was not a quiet ride. The sound of metal grating on metal and combustion filled Chanyeol’s ears. He could barely hear what Tao was shouting over the ruckus, but before the doors opened, he was strapped to Tao’s front and they were standing at the end of a platform.

“We have to jump on my count!”

“Wait!” Chanyeol shouted as he clicked his visor down on his helmet. He was nowhere near ready for this, but it didn’t seem like he was going to be ready any time soon.

“Three! Two! One!” Tao’s voice overpowered Chanyeol’s protest and the two of them were weightless in an instant.

Hurtling towards the only landmass Chanyeol could see from horizon to horizon was incredible. He didn’t have to worry about the wind whipping him in the face, his visor took care of that, and with Tao’s comforting warmth at his back, he knew they would land safely. From up here, he could see in the distance large dark swaths of open sea. Some were lighter blue, as those were near sandbars or something of the sort. He couldn’t see any critters aside from some flying animals that dove into the water and returned with their prey, but they were moving much too fast for him to take in much detail.

Over the com system, Tao’s voice broke Chanyeol’s silent observations. “I’m deploying the parachute, please brace yourself.”

Chanyeol tightened his core just as the parachute exploded behind them, catching them and sending them upward for a moment before they continued their descent. The ground was approaching fast, but not at the same speed as before. There were mountain peaks, surrounded by a layer of clouds, thick green foliage dotting the entire landmass – which looked much larger than Chanyeol had anticipated.

The closer they got, the more Chanyeol could see small bird-like creatures flitting above the canopies, singing to each other in a melodic way. Some of them were brightly colored flashes of reds and yellows while others were muted greens and grays. The fact that Chanyeol could see all of these creatures in a simple descent told him that there was so much life on this planet, so much more than on Earth these days.

“Wow,” Chanyeol whispered over the com.

He could hear Tao’s smile in his voice as he responded, “Beautiful, isn’t it? Let’s just hope we don’t fuck this place up too.”

It was ominous the way he said it, but Chanyeol couldn’t see his face to tell how serious Tao was being. But the thought left his mind as the ground neared and he could almost reach it with his legs. 

The landing was a bit rough, Chanyeol didn’t quite catch Tao’s instructions to keep his legs up until after he had placed his down so they got tangled up in each other and tumbled head over heels until their momentum stopped.

A little bruised and sore, Chanyeol stood up and brushed himself off, feeling embarrassed for the landing as everyone who had landed before him had seen his uncoordinated entrance. Behind him, Tao cursed into the com system and clapped a hand harshly on his shoulder as he passed by him, taking a place in front of the crowd of new crewmembers and flashing him an annoyed look.

Chanyeol cleared his throat and stepped in line, looking for Byulyi and finding her in an instant. She was his only friend here as of now, so he wanted to stay close. He retracted his visor as he stood next to her and grimaced as she gave him a knowing smile.

“Nice landing,” she whispered as Tao pulled up the holographic list and counted each of them.

Chanyeol snorted in response and gave Tao an apologetic look. It was returned with a long narrow-eyed stare and then the bright white of a smile before he started speaking.

“Alright, listen up! We are all here for one reason: colonization preparations. So I need you all to break up into your departments. Biological Sciences will be with this young woman here: Im Yoona. She will debrief you on your tasks and then you may board the Skimmers and take them to the underwater bunkers.” 

Tao gestured towards a woman wearing a diving suit and cap. Her face was pleasant to look at, and she commanded her unit with ease. It was then, that Chanyeol realized that Byulyi was leaving so he quickly reached out for her arm and held up his wrist.

“Stay in contact?”

Byulyi grinned, “Thought you’d never ask! I’ll need somewhere to escape to when I’m not underwater studying.”

They tapped their wristbands and once contact information was sent to one another, Byulyi ran off to catch up with the rest of the Biological Sciences crew.

After that, Tao continued, “Physical Sciences will remain up here on the land bunker with me. Please stand on that side,” he pointed to the left, “and await further instruction.”

Chanyeol followed the group that way and waited while Tao continued divvying up everyone else. Engineers went with some guy named Jongdae, who led them to a large off-road buggy with giant wheels. Apparently they were headed over to the energy fields to make sure everything was running properly for further excavations. 

The final group was sent off with another man named Yifan, but Chanyeol had stopped paying attention by then and was now watching the skies above. Several of the colorful bird-like creatures – he’d be sure to ask Byulyi what they were called when they had a moment to catch up – were circling above and singing again. Their voices were like the tinkling of a xylophone, melodic but sharp at times. Chanyeol found himself swaying.

“Ah, those are our  _ ara glieseum _ or Gliese Parrots. They’re not the same as Earth parrots, but scientists aren’t always the most creative. You’ll get used to them after a while,” Tao said as he strolled over to the group.

There were only a few of them, three guys and two women, none of which Chanyeol knew the names of. Or, well he knew their names, but not their faces. Even after reading their dossiers he still hadn’t put names to faces at all.

A younger man stepped up, tall and slender in his spacesuit and a face that held very little emotion on it. He had his helmet tucked between his arm and waist. His hair was dark brown, and his skin was a milky complexion. “Can I skip the orientation shit?”

Tao gave him an exasperated look and rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sure babe.”

Chanyeol jerked his head back and blinked.  _ Babe?! _ Tao seemed to notice this and as the guy walked away towards the bunker, he jutted a thumb at him. 

“That’s Oh Sehun. He’s on his third return trip here. If you have any questions, he knows about as much as me, so feel free to ask him,” Tao said with a grin. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get down to business.”

 

Chanyeol ended up with the room closest to the observatory which made him rather excited. While he didn’t have to start his mapping of the skies quite yet, Chanyeol had always been an over-achiever and wanted to get started tonight anyway. But, first thing was first, he needed to check in with the station to see who he would be working with up in the sky.

Just as he sat down, however, his wristband lit up, the frosty blue-green flashing white notifying him of a new video note. He pulled up the holographic screen and instantly saw Jongin’s cheery face. Chanyeol’s heart fluttered in his chest and a sense of longing filled him for a moment, but it was fleeting. It’d been a while since he’d seen his face and each time it still made his heart do a little flip.

“ _ I heard you landed! I’m glad. I think I’ve got the final touches put on my project! _ ”

Jongin grinned brightly in the recording and then added, “ _ I’ll be graduating soon, so I’ll see you before you know it! I can’t wait, Yeolie. It’ll be the first time we’ve been face to face since you left for the station. _ ”

Chanyeol watched as Jongin glanced down and bit his lip, feeling somewhat guilty for not trying harder to visit him before he left for Gliese. But, he could make amends when he returned to the station, he was sure of it.

“ _ I miss you! Make lots of pretty maps for me! _ ”

Chanyeol smiled at Jongin’s smile and replayed the entire video once more before sending him a response. Once that was done, however, Chanyeol was finally ready to contact the satellite. So he tossed his things on his bed and headed to the observation room with purpose.

The hallways of the bunker were slate gray, like most of the structure. It was a stark contrast to all the green that surrounded them on the landmass, but Tao had assured them that when colonization was ready, they would build hovels into the land, underwater homes and cities for the majority of citizens to reside in, but these terrestrial bunkers were for research only. 

However, Gliese wasn’t the planet Chanyeol wanted to spend the rest of his days on. As beautiful as it was – and it was breathtaking– Chanyeol had always been a man that belonged to the stars. While his career took him to the space station, it was the travel between that had really stolen Chanyeol’s heart. There was something about floating through space, surrounded by nothing but celestial bodies and blackness. It calmed him. It reminded him of how insignificant he was, how tiny he was. And he liked that. It grounded him and kept him from thoughts of insurmountable grandeur. The stars made him feel so distinctly human and that was why he studied them.

Upon entering the observation room, Chanyeol began feeling giddy. The lights flickered on automatically, and the open sky above him was breathtaking. He could see the nebulous clouds in space, the pinks, the purples, the gaseous green colors. It was unadulterated by light pollution and so very beautiful that Chanyeol stared at it for a moment before he glanced around the room.

Sure he had the most cutting edge technology available to him to make his maps, but Chanyeol was old school and liked to make each of them by hand. So, he pulled out some scrolls of parchment – the kind that is rather pricey and smoothed it out on the desk.

Once he was all set up, parchment, ink, and pens, he opened the communication link. “Anyone there?”

It was silent for a moment before a familiar voice crackled in response, “I was wondering when you’d check in.”

Chanyeol’s heart flip-flopped familiarly in his chest, and he had to stop the smile that curled at the corners of his lips. He was simply happy to hear Junmyeon’s voice because he knew him, that was all. Nothing more to it than that. At least that was what he told himself as he collected his thoughts – thoughts that kept going back to Jongin’s face and his request for Chanyeol to make  _ lots of pretty maps _ for him. It made his mouth taste bitter with shame, a sour reaction that caused him to purse his lips and sigh.

After a moment of silence, Junmyeon spoke again, “Chanyeol? Did I scare you off?”

Chanyeol shook his head, and then laughed at himself. “No, no. Not at all. In fact, I just shook my head before I realized you can’t see me.”

“I can see you. You’re that little dot of light down below,” Junmyeon’s voice was full of laughter. “What are you doing up so late?”

Chanyeol bit his lip, cheeks beginning to ache from the ever-present grin plastered on his face. He leaned on one hand, eyes traveling across the sky, hoping to catch the satellite with his naked eye. “I should ask you the same thing. But, really, I’m just setting up my materials.”

“Celestial cartography right?” Junmyeon asked and Chanyeol could almost see the curiosity on his face.

The last time they’d talked about his career choice, Junmyeon’s face had lit up like a beacon in the night. It seemed that most of the people on the space station were from all types of scientific backgrounds, but very few astronomists still dabbled in celestial cartography in the same way that Chanyeol did. Most used programs to map the stars, and while Chanyeol also used the same programs, he also made hard copies that he scanned into the system. His maps were what got him invited to the space station. The designs he would draw in the background, the embellishments were artistic as much as they were precise. He also made little notes in the margins and legends to explain certain formations or clusters that were significant.

In short, Chanyeol’s work was one of a kind, beautiful and added something of value to the space station. And Junmyeon had not been shy with his appreciation of Chanyeol’s work – much to his surprise.

Chanyeol pressed the button to respond, “The one and only.” Then he winked and froze. This was okay, right? It was a simple conversation with a coworker who happened to kind of be his boss. It was innocent. He cleared his throat and added, “Uh, yeah. I was just checking in. Didn’t expect you to be on the satellite station.”

Junmyeon took a while to respond, but when he did he sounded perfectly normal, so Chanyeol figured he was imagining things. “I heard you signed up so I decided to supervise from space. Funny that you’re down there when you’re the one mapping the stars. You should visit –” the connection cut and Chanyeol stared straight ahead, cheeks ablaze.

“I meant in respect for your mapping thing. It might help to be in space or –,” Junmyeon cut out again.

A long beat of silence passed between them before Chanyeol had the nerve to respond. “Well I’ll be here for two months, so I don’t see why not. But I need to get to work, so I’ll check in before I go to bed.”

“Please do, I’ll be on standby.”

Chanyeol found himself smiling softly. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Junmyeon waiting up for him made him feel warm. “I promise.”

And with that said, he set to work. He started off by marking the sky into sections and then using the telescope to check his calculations before marking the first line on the parchment. It would be tiresome work, but Chanyeol was always up for the challenge.

 

It was a few hours later that Chanyeol finally looked up from his maps and glanced around. The sky was beginning to lighten and that meant the stars would be hard to see. He stretched, smacking his lips, and started gathering his things. Carefully, he put each utensil back in its case, rolled up his map parchment, and then just as he glanced at the microphone, he set it all down and pressed the button.

“Hey, Junmyeon?”

His response came a few seconds later, “Mmm, yeah?”

Chanyeol smiled. He sounded really cute when he was sleepy. “So, um, what do you do up there?”

There was a rustling sound. Junmyeon might have left his button pressed, but soon the rustling stopped and he finally spoke. “A little bit of everything. I watch over the excavation feeds, check in on every operation to make sure that things are going smoothly. I report them back to the station and well, I sit here and keep you company.”

Chanyeol nodded, his face feeling warm. “Keep me company?”

“Well, space can be a lonely place. When you stare up at the stars all night, I like to imagine that you’re looking for me too,” Junmyeon laughed.

He wasn’t wrong. Chanyeol was used to his work being a silent affair with the occasional interruption. But actually having someone around could be nice? Even if they were miles above, orbiting the planet.

“But don’t you need sleep?”

“Don’t you?” Junmyeon’s answer was instant.

Chanyeol snickered. He felt like he was glowing softly even though he was dead tired. He carded his fingers through his dark hair and sighed before pressing the button. “I’ll sleep when the stars sleep.”

Junmyeon’s reply took a few moments longer than before. “But they never sleep, Starboy.”

Chanyeol found himself grinning from ear to ear. Had they leveled up to pet names? That was okay, right? Pet names between friends and colleagues? 

While Chanyeol was debating in his mind, Junmyeon called out once more over the radio. “Well, I’m off to bed. Gotta catch a few z’s before the station contacts me.”

Chanyeol shook himself from his thoughts and dove at the button. “I thought you were keeping me company?”

“You’re not talking, so I’m getting sleepy,” Junmyeon replied, cheekily. Chanyeol swore he could see the smirk on his face. It made his heart skip two beats.

He pushed his supplies aside and rested his head on the desk. “What do you want me to talk about?”

Junmyeon’s reply was instant, “Yourself. Tell me about what makes you tick, what you’re passionate about. Hell, even your family. Your voice makes me-” he cut off and left Chanyeol hanging.

“My voice does what?” Chanyeol questioned, biting his lip. His cheeks ached from the smile he was wearing.

“It um– let’s just retract that statement. My filter is all but gone,” Junmyeon replied.

Chanyeol snickered. “Then maybe you should do the talking.”

Yeah, the flirting was heavy, but Chanyeol didn’t even think twice about it. He was enjoying the rush that Junmyeon was giving him, the way he made his palms sweat and leave prints on the graphite surface. 

“Fine,” Junmyeon started. Static hung in the air for a moment as he sighed and added. “I’ll share something and then you.”

Chanyeol twirled his finger around the radio button and then pressed it. “Deal.”

 

The sun began cresting by the time Chanyeol yawned for the umpteenth time. So much for making a map, he thought belatedly. But he wasn’t upset, they had spent the majority of the night laughing and telling tidbits about themselves to each other.

“Get some rest, Starboy. Tao’s gonna be calling on you in a few hours.”

Chanyeol yawned again, “I’m just navigating the subaquatic rovers. I don’t have to do too much.”

He put his head down on the desk and closed his eyes, sleep already within his grasp. Junmyeon’s voice cut through vaguely.

“Well, I’m going to catch a few hours before I have to do my job. Goodnight, Starboy.”

Chanyeol went to sleep with a smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

#### [Flashback 2]: August 19th, Year 1

* * *

 

They always said the world was small, but space was supposed to be vast. So why did Chanyeol think he had seen a ghost? A ghost with wide eyes, trimmed red hair, and a heart-shaped smile. Certainly Kyungsoo could not also be on the space station. That would be too much of a coincidence. But, as Chanyeol sidled into the hallway from the packed elevator, there was no denying it. The short scarlet haired bespeckled man was in fact, his ex-boyfriend from college: Do Kyungsoo.

“Park Chanyeol! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” Kyungsoo called out with a half smile. 

In the years it’d been since Chanyeol had seen him, Kyungsoo had really made a name for himself. He was a world-renowned biologist, one that had given countless speeches, hosted forums and even sold out stadium-sized arenas for many of his various talks about the elements of alien life. He was the leading scientist in alien evolution and everyone who was anyone knew him.

Chanyeol grimaced inwardly, feeling shocked and awkward to run into him here, but held open his arms nonetheless to give Kyungsoo a hug.

“It’s been a while hasn’t it? You look great,” Chanyeol said. He meant it. Kyungsoo looked really good, aside from the dark under-eye bruises that plagued most of the inhabitants of the space station. Sleep was definitely for the weak, and no one wanted to be weak here.

“Almost four years huh? How’ve you been? What brings you  _ here _ of all places? I thought you were applying to YG Space Station?” Kyungsoo asked. He pushed up his glasses as they slid down his nose. It was endearing.

“I’ve been good, started my own brand LOEY Cartography and got scouted by the executives here. It’s lucrative,” Chanyeol replied.

He noticed they were standing in the middle of the hallway and sidestepped towards a wall so people could walk around them with ease. 

Kyungsoo grinned in response. “That’s amazing. I’m really happy to hear that. Are you going to the forum today?”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah, Junmye- I mean Kim Junmyeon wanted me to check it out, so here I am,” he stuttered on Junmyeon’s name, not knowing if it was proper or not to talk of him so familiarly.

Not that they were super close or anything. Junmyeon had taken on a mentor-type relationship with Chanyeol – well he had tried until he found out what Chanyeol’s branch was and then that went out the window –  but they were more like friends now. Occasionally getting lunch together and sharing ideas.

Chanyeol liked Junmyeon. Not in a way that threatened his relationship with Jongin, but in a more-than-professional way. He enjoyed spending time with him and the more he did, well, the more he felt conflicted. Still, Junmyeon was aware of Jongin existence, so he never acted out of line and even asked about him from time to time. Yet, Chanyeol couldn’t help but notice that sometimes Junmyeon’s gaze lingered or that sometimes his own did. It was a dangerous line that he walked on, but he was careful not to cross it. Besides, people got crushes from time to time so this was nothing different.

Kyungsoo regarded Chanyeol curiously and then clapped his shoulder. “You always did have a type.”

Chanyeol balked as Kyungsoo walked away, a strange expression on his face until a cheery individual came up behind him and grabbed his shoulders. He had fawn-colored hair tied up in the front like a little palm tree. Chanyeol smiled, he was glad Kyungsoo had made some good friends here.

 

The forum itself was interesting. It was the first one that Chanyeol had been to that wasn't presented live, but was instead a pre-recorded message.

A holographic form of a man suddenly appeared. He didn’t introduce himself, nor did he really go into much detail about what exactly he needed. In fact, all he said about the mission itself was that it would be on Gliese, an ocean planet, and that it would last a few months while everyone helped with preparations for the impending colonization of the planet. Which, was interesting enough for Chanyeol. He had already been pre-briefed for this mission as indicated by the extra packet in his room. He was more than qualified for it as well, so why not?

He looked around the room as others nodded and spoke quietly amongst themselves about their thoughts on colonization and the mission in general. He made eye contact with Junmyeon who was sitting in one of the chairs at the side of the podium and shrugged. The mission seemed safe and would give Chanyeol a good opportunity to see a new sky.

“All that said, we will be needing several people from these departments: Navigation and Operations, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, IT, and several higher-ups to supervise from the satellite station EXO-K. That is all.”

The screen cut to black suddenly and then a splash screen showing the logo for the Gliese Project faded into view. The room erupted into chatter as the lights came on. Several people were eagerly rushing out the door to sign up while others were shaking their heads.

“I fucking hate the ocean, why would I go to an ocean planet, Minseok?” The same fawn colored haired man from before said as he passed by Chanyeol.

The other man, Minseok – Chanyeol guessed – shrugged his shoulders. “Anything is better than the last mission. I swear I close my eyes and I still see that  _ thing _ beneath my feet,” he stopped and punched the fawn haired man in the arm, “What the fuck were you thinking Luhan?”

Their voices traveled out the door as they left and Chanyeol was alone in the room with Junmyeon. He was hyperaware of his breathing now, the way it hitched when Junmyeon turned his full gaze on him.

“What do you think?” Junmyeon asked, his smile dazzling Chanyeol for a half-second. He really was unfairly handsome.

“I’m interested if only to map the stars from a different planet than Earth,” Chanyeol said quietly. He still felt a bit shy when he spoke of his passion, but Junmyeon always looked at him like he was all the stars in the sky and not just the guy who charted them.

“Astronomy is such a large field, and Tao always needs as much help as he can get, especially since his dream team turned down the mission. Plus, I’m sure you could create some beautiful maps in your free time so long as you follow his tasks. He may be particular about how things get done, but he is a great leader and appreciates hard work,” Junmyeon paused and touched Chanyeol’s shoulder lightly, “you’re a hard worker, you should sign up. Who knows, maybe I’ll sign up too.”

With that, he beamed at Chanyeol, leaving his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder for the briefest moment longer. “I have a meeting for lunch today, so eat an extra donut just for me,” he added with a wink as he stood up.

Their gazes locked and Chanyeol had to look away first, instead forcing his eyes on his clasped hands. He had been digging his nails into his skin and left little crescent-shaped marks behind.

Chanyeol rose to his feet slowly, heart ramming in his chest and face hotter than the sun itself. He fought the smile that forced itself upon his lips and after a few moments of grinning like a fool, he called up Jongin to help assuage the giddiness that had filled his heart. 

“I think I’m signing up for my first mission, Nini,” Chanyeol breathed, his face was still flushed, but thankfully the video feed was tinted a minty green.

Jongin’s eyes widened. “That’s so cool! Where are you going?”

Chanyeol hovered by the door and peered into the hallway. No one seemed to be paying him any mind, so he continued. “Gliese. It’s a water planet they’re setting up for colonization. I’ll be leaving pretty soon actually.”

Jongin’s smile waned, “I thought you were coming back Earth-side to visit me?”

And for the first time, Chanyeol realized that despite the constant video pings and calls, he had not really made any effort to actually set up a vacation yet. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Fuck, I know I promised...but…”

“Maybe after the mission? I should be coming there soon and we can go on a real date in space,” Jongin said with a cheery grin.

Chanyeol nodded, his gaze shifting out into the hallway to Junmyeon’s office door and then back to Jongin’s face. “Sounds good to me, Nini. I’ll be sure to show you around,” Chanyeol lips quirked into a half smile. “Gotta go though. I need to sign up before all the spots are taken! Tell my parents I love them if you see them.”

“I- okay, I will,” Jongin replied and the connection was cut.

Chanyeol stared at the negative space where the holographic screen was and let out a deep breath. There was something heavy growing in the pit of his stomach, he just didn’t know what to call it.


	4. Chapter 4

####  [Present]: October 14th, Year 1

* * *

 

The Skimmer that Chanyeol was climbing into was a small two-person underwater vehicle. It had a large glass dome on the top that allowed for them to see in all directions and an aerodynamic design for traversing underwater.

Tao motioned for Chanyeol to hurry up as he said, “Come on, Yoona doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Chanyeol hurriedly clambered in and buckled up, without saying so much as another word. He’d woken up feeling a bit weird today, but he blamed that partially on the fact that he had stayed up all night talking to Junmyeon instead of charting the stars. He had even forgotten to send Jongin a ping and that was eating away at him. But, at least the chair he was strapped into was comfortable. That and Tao had no problem taking the lead in the conversation.

“We’re going to visit the underwater base today is because I need you to take a look at something. I know you’re not a zoologist, but that’s why I want your opinion on this  _ thing _ ,” Tao said as he lowered the dome to the Skimmer and began their descent.

For a moment, Chanyeol was enraptured by the beauty of the biome they had entered and didn’t answer. Multi-colored fish swam around them, in various shapes and sizes. Some swam in synchronized movements of a hundred strong, while others lingered in the back, stalking prey. It was strange how even on an alien planet, the ocean was so starkly alien from the few land critters that Chanyeol had seen.

Granted, Chanyeol spent most of his time on land doing mundane work with the telescopes and helping the various locations set them up for stellar observations, he still caught sight of the air-breathing animals of this planet. Most of them were small, rodent-like in nature, but at night, when Chanyeol listened very carefully, he could hear the trees swishing from something much larger.

Still, the ocean life was interesting. Being a man of the skies himself, it was a bit alarming traveling so fast and deep into a body of water, but as the long underwater reeds gave way to the open ocean floor, Chanyeol gasped.

“Why’s that?” He asked finally, eye wide as it took it all in. This planet was impossibly beautiful. Like a vacation to a coral reef or somewhere equally as full of marine life.

“Because Junmyeon has told me that you’re a bit of an environmentalist,” Tao responded nonchalantly.

“You two talk?” Chanyeol asked, his pulse picking up a bit. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt like he was caught doing something wrong.

“I submit daily reports to him about our operations,” Tao answered. “He brings you up a lot- not in a bad way, just casually. I think he might have a bit of a friendly work-crush on you.” Tao laughed a bit and glanced over his shoulder at Chanyeol.

For the first time, Chanyeol noticed that he had piercings in his ears. Some went up the shell of his ears and were in the shapes of little stars and moons. But, as Tao’s words sank in, the little bit of guilt he’d been feeling earlier crept back up and he frowned.

“Really?” He asked, not sure if the way his heart jumped was because of fear or excitement.

A school of green and blue fish swam overhead and he followed them until they disappeared into the distance as he waited for Tao’s reply.

“Yeah, he mentioned you visiting the satellite station and talked about making sure the observatory was available for you. He started going on about the machinery there and I kinda checked out, but he’s definitely got a soft spot for you, Park,” Tao chirped.

It shouldn’t have made Chanyeol’s chest feel like exploding, but it did. He clamped his teeth down on his bottom lip and swallowed a soft giggle. Junmyeon was doing all of that for him? That really meant a lot. But – there was always a but – they had to remain professional. That was something Chanyeol needed to address sooner rather than later. He still felt like he liked Jongin a lot, but in reality, they had really only spent about three weeks together earthside before Chanyeol was off to the space station. And truthfully, he’s spent a lot more time with Junmyeon since arriving, so maybe it was just natural that he’d feel a little spark that threatened to engulf him in flames.

At any rate, he needed to talk to one or maybe both of them and get to the bottom of it. Just something to ease his conscience. He didn't want to lead either on.

“You’ve gone radio silent, you okay back there?” Tao turned around to face Chanyeol and then smirked. “Looks like it isn’t so one-sided after all. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Something about being lightyears from Earth brings people together. Just gotta make sure you don’t leave any loose ends.”

“You're really wise,” Chanyeol blurted suddenly.

Tao snorted. “I’ve been on this planet for almost a year and a half now, I’ve seen so many things happen here, you’d be surprised.”

“Like what?” Chanyeol questioned.

Tao’s words had struck a chord in him. He knew that when he returned to the terrestrial base, he had some things to think about, but for now, he was going to sit back and enjoy the stories Tao was telling him.

"Had a couple show up here for their first mission. One of those mushy, googly-eyed, glued at the hip, type of couples. They lasted all of a month in the same base before one had to be reassigned. Whole thing fell apart when neither had time for the other," Tao said.

Chanyeol chewed his lip. He was beginning to wonder if that was why his feelings were all over the place. He had tried to make time for Jongin, but as the months went on...

"They ended up being good friends in the end, and..." Tao's voice faded as Chanyeol leaned against the glass and fell into his thoughts. He needed to fix this.

 

The underwater bunker was a series of small domes connected by long transparent tubes. Lights lit up each individual dome and the tubes so that it looked more like a small underwater town and less of a bunker. It was expansive too, stretching as far as Chanyeol could see.

“It’s huge,” Chanyeol whispered.

Tao nodded, “We started the underwater bunker expansion about five months after I arrived here. As you can see we’ve been hard at work making sure everything was connected. We are building Sea-Walks for quick access across the expansion,” he pointed to several individuals in diving suits swimming over the domes along a long metal line connecting them. “By the time colonization is ready down here, we hope to have completed construction, but we’ve run into a bit of a problem recently.”

The Skimmer slowed to a stop and Tao expertly guided it to a docking bay where it was lifted by a mechanical lift into a room. Chanyeol watched as the water was drained out of the room with awe.

“What kind of problem?” He asked when the dome lifted and Tao climbed out.

“Mineral exhaustion,” Tao added, holding his hand out to help Chanyeol over the edge of the Skimmer. "You know the usual. We try not to take too much without giving back. We don't want this to be Mars 2.0."

“Thanks, but I don’t get it. I’m an astronomer, not an environmentalist. I don’t know much about that kind of stuff other than the basics,” Chanyeol said. He followed Tao out of the room into another where they were decontaminated.

“I’m aware,” Tao grinned, “That’s not why I brought you here, I brought you because I needed to show you something amazing.”

The bunker was similar to the other ones in that it was made from the same metallic material and reinforced glass. He could see dark water outside, pressing all around them. It reminded him vaguely of space, how void it was of color other than the stars and planets. If Chanyeol didn't know better, he'd think he was in space. But the sounds of water pressure causing occasional creaks and the very gentle sway of the base told him otherwise.

Tao led Chanyeol down several hallways until they ended up at a large observatory.  It was similar to the one on the terrestrial bunkers. Overhead was a glass dome with metal bars that held the shields. They only blocked the view minimally, so they never hindered Chanyeol when he was looking at the sky on land.

Up to the point, Tao had been silent, as if he was anticipating this moment. Finally, he gestured for Chanyeol to stand in the center of the room and hovered by the door.

“When I shut off the lights, look up, and tell me you see it too,” Tao said, hand covering the switch.

The lights clicked off and for a moment Chanyeol only saw darkness. Then slowly, bit by bit the water above him began to light up. Tiny specks at first, floating aimlessly. He didn’t really see it at first, no patterns or anything significant until it dawned on him. The floating lights matched the stars in the sky.

“Holy shit,” he whispered and pulled up a digitized version of his star chart. “It’s an exact replica.”

Tao came up beside him. “I knew I wasn’t seeing things,” he whispered.

“What are they?” Chanyeol asked, shifting his holographic map as he turned. Each light matched almost exactly.

“We’ve been calling them  _ stellaplankton _ ,” Tao answered. “We’ve had some zoologists, biologists, and chemists take a look at them and the findings have been nothing short of phenomenal. When one is removed from the water, another fills its place, shining just as bright. We’re looking into a safe way to use them for light since they are so easily farmed.”

Chanyeol gaped, “This is amazing.” They shifted gently with the water’s current, but always remained in proper formation, some taking the place of others at times.

“Our research on them is in its infancy, but it’s a lot like having the night sky underwater. We don’t know why they do this, but they’re always there, only disturbed when swam through or plucked from the water,” Tao added.

Without really thinking about it, Chanyeol took a small recording with his wristband, this time making sure to switch to full spectrum mode so all the colors could be seen. He scanned above him, eyes brimming with awe and very softly narrated what he was seeing.

“Their colors are accurate as well, there’s a brown dwarf next to that cluster of stars,” he pointed to a spot above him, “And it’s giving off the proper shade of reddish-orange. They must be connected to something bigger.”

He ended the recording and instantly sent a copy of it to Junmyeon and after hesitating with his finger over Jongin’s name, he sent him a copy too. His stomach somersaulted as he turned off the projection and he stood there for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

Then, the lights turned back on and Tao was grinning at him. “Got one more thing for you to do down here,” he stepped aside and a familiar blonde woman strode in.

“Tao asked me to show you some of the specimens,” she smirked.

Chanyeol glanced between the both of them and let out a laugh. “Making good on your promise?”

“Always,” she snorted.

The walk with Byulyi was filled with brief descriptions of each creature before they arrived in the specimen room. Chanyeol was already buzzing with excitement and couldn't wait to see a  _ sepiabellus,  _ something that looked very similar to cuttlefish back on Earth apparently. It was supposedly quite intelligent and passed quite a few cognitive tests.

"We're here," Byulyi said as she waltzed in, all smiles.

The room was simple enough, the walls lined with large tanks housing various creatures. The center of the room had several tables with smaller tanks on them, some with obstacles and others empty. An incredible network of piping and tubes ran from each of the tables to the floor, presumably to provide oxygen to the water for the creatures.

Chanyeol followed Byulyi to a tank on the wall and grinned. Inside was a small creature with a long torpedo shaped body. The edges were fringed with a continuous and thin fin, much like a cuttlefish. The biggest difference was the fact that it had three eyes. One on each side and then one on top. The pupils were hourglass shaped and the iris was a golden color. As Chanyeol leaned closer to the tank, however, the creature began flashing wildly. Colors changing from the dull beige to bright red and then landing on a deep blue.

Byulyi laughed. "Seems he doesn't like you very much."

"What? Why?" Chanyeol gasped, feeling affronted. He had hardly met the thing.

"He usually never turns blue, only when he feels threatened," she explained. "You must look really scary to him," she added, teasing.

"How am I scary?" Chanyeol laughed. He stepped back from the tank and the creature returned to a beige color.

"It's those big doofus ears you got," she grinned.

Chanyeol pouted and then lifted Byulyi's hair. "Your ears aren't that much smaller than mine."

Byulyi stuck her tongue out. "Yeah but my hair covers mine. Clearly, that makes me less threatening."

“As if! He just doesn’t know that you like to eat sushi!”

Byulyi gasped. “You take that back!”

They went back and forth like this for a bit, every now and then glancing at the tank to see the  _ sepiabellus _ changing colors depending on who was talking. It had chosen a side and each time Byulyi spoke, it flashed a warm peach color while flashing deep blues and purples when Chanyeol spoke.

Finally, Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at the creature and wagged his finger at it. "You and I will be friends, just you watch."

The rest of the time he spent with Byulyi, Chanyeol found himself taking short videos and sending off about a million pings to both Jongin and Junmyeon. Most of them were only a few seconds long or simply footage of the creatures swimming peacefully in their tanks. Yet, as Chanyeol went on, he started taking longer shots and talking more. Some of the pings had him talking to the alien species as if they could understand him.

It got to the point where he had started using the term babe, not really thinking about who he was addressing, but still sent the ping to Junmyeon without so much as a second thought. It wasn't until Byulyi pointed it out that Chanyeol froze, bent at the waist and staring at a tank filled with bioluminescent plant-life.

"I did what?"

"You called him babe," Byulyi said from her table. She was running a few tests on a small group of marine slugs that the zoologists were starting to think acted as one consciousness.

"And? I always call Jongin babe," Chanyeol answered. 

"But you also sent that ping to Junmyeon," Byulyi explained.

Chanyeol's blood ran cold. He stood up straight and slammed his palm into his forehead. "Fuck." His heart was beginning to race. He was toeing the line before, but now he worried he had on the verge of crossing it.

"You like him, admit it," Byulyi smirked.

"Yes. No. I don't know. What am I even doing?" Chanyeol sighed.

Byulyi removed her gloves and approached Chanyeol. "You gotta end it with Jongin. I'm sure he's a sweet guy, but you don't love him. You didn't even date that long.”

Chanyeol chewed on his cheek. “We’ve been kinda dating for months though, just long distance.”

Byulyi clucked her tongue. “So? You are falling for Junmyeon... hard.” She walked back to her station and looked over her shoulder. “Think about it."

Chanyeol pursed his lips and stared at her. He didn't want to admit, but Byulyi was right. Still, he wanted to see Jongin in person, just to be sure. Just to know if his feelings for him were still there. Jongin was so bright and cute and he always had something fascinating to say. Yet, Junmyeon made his pulse race and his cheeks warm and...shit. Byulyi was right. Goddamnit.

Maybe he could hold off until he returned from his trip. Then he could see Jongin in person and that would tell him for sure. If things worked out, he would stay with him, but if not, then well, he'd end things before anything got too far. He never wanted to hurt him. Not in that way.

"Alright, time for us to go back," Tao said, suddenly appearing at the door.

Chanyeol glanced up, feeling like he'd been torn in two. Maybe he needed to be alone for a bit. Alone with his work to help sort out things.

 

On the Skimmer ride back to the base, Tao only said a few words. Most notably: “Just... be careful. He loves hard. Real hard.”

They sent Chanyeol into a spiraling trip deep inside himself. He had a lot of soul searching to do.

  
  


It was almost midnight when Chanyeol got a response from Jongin. But he put off listening to it in favor of focusing on his work in the observatory. It had become his home the last few days to the point of his coffee mug always sitting on the desk and his belongs going untouched whenever he was gone. There were others in his field here, but they were split up amongst the different bases so Chanyeol figured he was the only one in Tao’s service. At least for the time being.

Off and on, he'd been contemplating contacting Junmyeon in the satellite, but he chickened out each time. His throat would close up and he would feel like he swallowed a pine cone. Yet, now that he was staring at Jongin's glowing name on his list of pings, he felt emboldened. It was time he made a decision.

"You there?"

A few moments went by and then, "Junmyeon, reporting for duty. See anything interesting out there, Starboy?"

"Um, yeah. Maybe. I don't know." Chanyeol sputtered, immediately losing all semblance of cool. He felt like his face was on fire. He still lost his composure when Junmyeon called him that.

They were silent for a few minutes. Chanyeol adjusted the telescope a bit to focus on the station and sighed. What was he doing?

He pulled out a piece of parchment and set about choosing the proper pen while he tried to sort out the feelings in his chest. His hands trembled as he picked up the pen.  _ Starboy _ . It was so simple and yet it made Chanyeol utterly weak. Weak in a way that no one, save for his past exes had made him feel. And it was then that Chanyeol was beginning to see what exactly this was. He had a type.

After a while, Junmyeon's line crackled. "I... got your pings. It's beautiful down there isn't it?" 

Unsaid words hung in the space between them. Large enough for Chanyeol to feel them even miles away. He was no longer teetering on the edge, anymore. He had full on plunged into the well of his feelings. It was murky and confusing, but he knew one thing for sure.

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot. I'm all ears for you." Junmyeon replied and Chanyeol could almost hear the smile in his voice. It made his chest squeeze.

"Jongin is coming to the station when I return and I think...I think I need to...end things?" Chanyeol released the button and waited for Junmyeon's response. 

He ended up adjusting the telescope and looking through the finder while the silence grew. They hadn’t really talked that much about his and Jongin’s relationship other than Junmyeon’s passing comments about wishing him well and vague curiosities about what he did. Chanyeol had always brushed it off as nothing more than Junmyeon making conversation, but Tao’s words came back to him then.

_ He loves hard. Really hard. _

And fuck if Chanyeol didn’t as well.

Junmyeon’s response came almost twenty minutes later, just as Chanyeol had begun to notice that the illustration behind the stars he’d been doodling was Junmyeon’s face.

"What happened between you?" His voice sounded careful like he was holding his breath.

Chanyeol stared at the map, hand frozen. He scrambled for the other maps, pulling each one out and saw little signs here and there. Dating back to the first few he had started working on back on the station. The faint illustrations had changed slowly. He drew less and less bears and other animals from the Ursidae family to smaller creatures resembling bunnies. 

It had started with one, small cotton tail amongst a field of bears, but as the months went on, more and more of them popped up. They were either an official part of his maps or just off-hand doodles while he was doing calculations and measurements. Had it really happened so subtly?

Holding the microphone sideways as he held down the talk button, Chanyeol spoke. "I'm um...I don't know." He couldn't say it. He couldn't even admit it to himself. "I think I'm going back to work now. I'll check in later."

More silence, and then five minutes later, "Okay, I'll be up."

Chanyeol put his head on the desk and closed his eyes. He was a river in Egypt. Long and winding.


	5. Chapter 5

#### [Flashback 3]: June 2nd, Year 1

* * *

 

Sometimes when Chanyeol got lonely on the station he would call Jongin. It helped stave off his need for human contact, even if he was hundreds of miles away and communicated strictly via pings. Just hearing his voice was enough usually. Especially in the beginnings of his time on the station.

Still, other times he would think about their first meeting. This was one of those times.

_ They had met in a bar back on Earth. It was one of those dimly lit smoky bars filled with lonely people. Chanyeol had gone down to get a drink before he told his parents that he had been chosen to board the SM Space Station, an endeavor that they would not be okay with. They wanted their only son to stay on Earth, to continue his work with LOEY Cartography, but Chanyeol had that itch. He needed to go somewhere. Somewhere far, far away. Somewhere alien. _

_ He longed for it. To be amongst the stars. He craved it in the deepest way. He dreamed of it, he practically breathed it. At any point in time, he had a tab on his wristband pulled up of the latest footage from the space station, or from a grainy feed from a planet far away. Space just called to him in a way that nothing else did. So when he received the letter explaining that he'd been chosen to join their forces, to map out the stars in various solar systems, Chanyeol jumped on it. The only catch was that he needed to convince his parents that it would be the best option for him. _

_ That was how he found himself at the bar, sitting next to a stranger and ordering a drink. He didn't want anything heavy, just enough to get him buzzed so he could get a taste of that liquid confidence. He hadn't expected for the man sitting next to him to glance over and see him watching a space feed to also strike up a conversation. _

_ "Is that from the station?" He asked, eyes bright. _

_ Chanyeol looked at him, taking in his features, the fullness of his lips, the shape of his jaw, the softness of his hair and the tone of his skin. He looked like a sun-kissed sculpture come to life. He wasn’t his usual type, but he was cute. Definitely cute.  _

_ After blinking, he smiled, "Yeah, it is." He shifted so that his holographic screen was between the two of them now. "I follow all the space feeds, they've been finding new systems out there and I want to visit them all." _

_ "Really?" the man asked. He leaned closer and Chanyeol caught a whiff of his cologne. It smelled like flowers. _

_ "Yeah, I'm a bit of a space fanatic," Chanyeol added sheepishly. _

_ "Me too," the man smiled softly. "I'm actually working on my doctorate so that I can get into the SM Space Station. I'm applying for their biology program. The one headed by Dr. Do." _

_ Chanyeol sat up straighter. That was the same station he'd just gotten invited to. Not to mention that Dr. Do was the famous Do Kyungsoo, who he had dated back in their university days. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm going there too!" _

_ The stranger's eyes widened. "No way. Maybe we'll see each other there? I'm Jongin… you know, in case you were wondering?" _

_ "Chanyeol," Chanyeol said and offered his hand. He was always eager to make a new friend. A new friend that might grow into something more. _

_ When their palms met, a shock went through Chanyeol. He wet his lips and took a swig of his beer. His parents could wait, he wanted to talk to this Jongin guy. _

And that had been the beginning. After that night spent talking at the bar, Chanyeol had considered himself smitten and gave Jongin his information so they could stay in contact. He didn't know where things would lead with them, especially with him leaving after about a week, but he had hoped it would be some place good.

So far… it was good.

Chanyeol rolled over and called Jongin on video feed. It rang a few times before Jongin picked up, hair disheveled and glasses askew.

"Did I wake you?"

Jongin shook his head, obvious signs of sleep all over his features. " _ No, I was just taking a nap. _ "

"Likely story," Chanyeol teased. "I was just calling because I miss you ...and I feel lonely."

" _ You should make some friends, dummy...but I miss you too. I'll be there in a few months though. _ " Jongin yawned. He was so cute when he was sleepy.

Chanyeol pouted. "I have friends- erm, a friend? Well he's kind of my boss, but he's invited me to lunch tomorrow."

" _ That's good! You should get really close to him so you can get special treatment _ ," Jongin said with a wink.

"Yah! That wouldn't be fair to my colleagues," Chanyeol protested.

Jongin shrugged his shoulders. " _ I'm just saying. _ "

Maybe he had a point. Chanyeol chewed on his lip before replying. "I'll give it a shot."

 


	6. Chapter 6

#### [Present]: November 13th, Year 1

* * *

 

At this point, he'd been on Gliese for about a month and a half and between charting the stars and visiting Byulyi and the stellaplankton down in the ocean, Chanyeol had grown fond of the planet. Yet, the mission was coming to an end for him. They were set to leave in about two weeks and he had already done what was asked of him by Tao many times over.

Things had returned to more or less normal after that night. For the first few days, Junmyeon was a bit standoffish, but he warmed back up pretty quickly, which made Chanyeol feel better. He didn't realize how much he had grown to rely on him to alter his mood, but every night he spent in the observatory talking to him, he found he felt better than the night before.

He still responded to Jongin, feeling guilty for leading him on this way. But he felt it wouldn’t be fair of him to end things without seeing him face to face. So he erred on the side of vague professionalism with Junmyeon and growing disinterest in Jongin. He tried to play the part, but the long expanses of time between their contact had been growing until Chanyeol realized he had spent almost two days without replying to him at all.

Night had just fallen and Chanyeol was in his pajamas making his way to the observatory with a plate of food and a cup of coffee in the other hand. His wristband lit up and a ping displayed Jongin’s name and the guilt that flooded through Chanyeol at that moment nearly made him drop his food.

He set it down on the desk, scooting his parchments and tablets off to the side to make room. Then he sat down hard on his chair and sighed, carding his fingers through freshly washed hair as he pulled up both pings. He watched them with growing dread as the first one had been a continuation of their conversation about Jongin’s impending visit and his excitement over finally getting to see him in person after all these months.

Chanyeol brought up the menu option to delete it and hovered over it. If he erased it then his guilt-ridden conscience wouldn’t make him watch it over and over before he went to bed, trying to decipher how he was going to let him know what was going on. Maybe he needed to tell him before he arrived? That way he could at least sleep at night.

His finger twitched and the confirmation box glowed green-blue in the center of the holographic screen. Chanyeol inhaled a shaky breath and pressed it, swallowing as the hollow feeling in his throat grew. 

He watched the second ping, feeling as though he had been dipped in molasses, eyes heavy and struggling to stay open to even just look at Jongin’s face. He had to tell him. But Jongin had appeared so concerned about him. Asking if he was being overworked or if he was just busy and couldn’t talk.

His reply was short, a simple: “Yeah, I’ve been busy. And hey, when I get to the station, I think we need to talk about some things.”

He knew he wouldn’t get a reply until hours later, and that Jongin would probably be a bit blindsided, but this way Chanyeol had gotten the ball rolling and he could feel less shitty about this whole thing. He couldn't help that he'd been developing feelings for Junmyeon. He saw him all the time at the station and Jongin had even pushed him to befriend him. 

Still, he tried his best never to do anything he would regret, and now he was feeling like he was regretting staying in a relationship with Jongin even though he knew he personally could not handle a long distance relationship. He knew that and why he still tried was beyond him, but he really had wanted it to work. He really did. 

He just never foresaw any of this happening. Not in the slightest. And he didn't want to be an asshole. He didn't want to be a cheater, so he was going to do his damnedest to stick by the rules and respect the boundaries of their relationship while they were still in one, but God if it wasn't hard. He had to break up with Jongin and all he could do was hope that he understood where he was coming from and that he wasn't hurt. It made him feel so guilty just knowing that he had been a dick these last few days, but sometimes he ran when things got hard and he couldn't stay in his lane this time. 

Sighing, Chanyeol stared at the microphone on the desk. He knew he shouldn't contact Junmyeon right now, but he needed to be cheered up badly.

“So, about me coming up there?” Chanyeol opened the conversation with this. 

A half-smile played at the corners of his lips, already overcoming the bitter taste in his mouth. He scooped a forkful of food and chewed thoughtfully while he waited for Junmyeon’s reply.

They had planned his eventual visit to the satellite station, but Chanyeol had put it off until he was absolutely sure he could trust himself to be alone with Junmyeon. And now that he had put into motion the ending of his and Jongin’s relationship, he felt that he could handle this. Either that or he was so deep in his denial that he was drowning. In all honesty, it was mostly that.

“Mmm, what about it, Starboy?” Junmyeon sounded sleepy.

Chanyeol grinned, imagining sleep-mussed hair. “Did I wake you?”

“I wish,” Junmyeon mumbled. He was quiet for a bit before his microphone made a static sound. “I just spent the last eighteen hours in contact with the station. They’re sending a shuttle early to come trade us out. It seems I’m needed to oversee a new mission in the works by Dr. Do. Tao already notified me that you’ve completed your tasks so you’ll be joining me on the shuttle, along with a few others.”

“Oh! That’s intense,” Chanyeol said softly. He wasn’t sure how he felt about arriving back to the station early. He was banking on these next few weeks to prepare himself for his meeting with Jongin, but now it seemed it was being cut short.

“How long until the shuttle is here?”

“It’ll be here in a few days. I just wish they notified me sooner,” Junmyeon replied. “But…”

Chanyeol held his breath, waiting for Junmyeon to finish. His pulse raced in his veins.

“If you want, I can have the observatory up here prepared for you in say, a few hours? You can spend the remainder of your time here? Getting a closer look at-”

“The stars,” Chanyeol completed. His cheeks heated.

“Yes, of course,” Junmyeon rushed out.

“I’d like that.”

“Good, let me get it sorted. Tao should be there when it’s time for you to depart,” Junmyeon said. And again, Chanyeol could hear the smile in his voice.

It’d been a month and a half since he’d even seen him. They usually opted for the radio since it was immediate and less trackable than pings. And while Chanyeol dreaded seeing Jongin, his heart was a flutter at the prospect of seeing Junmyeon. And the satellites observatory too. But, mostly he wanted to see Junmyeon and he could no longer deny that.   
  
  
  
  
  
Jongin's ping came just as Chanyeol was packing up his supplies. He sat down on the floor and braced himself but even that wasn't enough. Jongin's reply was short, the same as Chanyeol's. It was simply a black screen that said: okay. 

It hit Chanyeol in the gut, hard. He immediately felt like calling off the whole thing and just giving Jongin another chance, but he couldn't force himself to love someone. Not when he was already six feet underwater with Junmyeon. And that was how being with Junmyeon felt. Like he couldn't get enough oxygen, that barely on the edge of losing consciousness type of high that Chanyeol craved. 

Being with Jongin had been fun, it had been easy. It had felt right at the time, but Chanyeol now knew it wasn't meant to be and he couldn't change that, not even if he wanted to. Not when one particular blond set his entire body aflame and doused him at the same time. Not when a single smile would send pleasant chills down his back and make his stomach flip. Not when lingering touches and close calls had Chanyeol feeling so breathless he thought he would never fill his lungs again if Junmyeon wasn't around. It was intoxicating. Everything about him was so addicting and so overwhelming that Chanyeol could no longer deny it. If he did, then well, he was in denial.

He raised his wrist, tapping the band so the holographic screen popped back up and recorded a short response. "I'm sorry."    
  
  
  
  
  
It was just shy of one in the morning, Gliese-time, when Tao knocked on the frame to the room Chanyeol had called home. He had packed up his belongings, made the bed and was watching the video he had taken of the stellaplankton. It filled him with a bittersweet feeling.

“You all set?” Tao’s voice was gruff.

Chanyeol glanced up, meeting his eyes and nodded. Tao clearly hadn’t gotten much sleep, or he had been awakened from his sleep by the looks of it. Chanyeol sheepishly followed him out of the bunker, feeling much too excited to be traveling to the stars, where he belonged.

Once outside, Tao gestured for Chanyeol to hop onto a small two-wheeled hovercraft. He sunk down into the deep bucket seat and strapped in while Tao closed the helmet to his spacesuit. Chanyeol followed suit and silently, they rose from the ground and shot up into the sky towards the lower platform of the space elevator.

“Is everything okay?” he asked over the com system. The wind around them was much too loud, yet the helmet muffled it significantly.

Tao kept his hands on the navigation as he spoke, “Just a lot going on.”

“With the city?” Chanyeol asked. 

He recalled their last conversation about the resource exhaustion and how it was slowing their building process by quite a bit. Apparently, Tao requested a specific team to come to Gliese, but they had turned down the offer and had gone to another planet instead. So now they had two choices, explore the depths of the water further in order to find more resources or halt their construction until the team was available. And it looked like the latter was taking place.

“That and the station. I take it Junmyeon told you that you are leaving early?”

Chanyeol nodded.

“I’m also assuming he told you that he is returning to oversee a new mission being proposed?”

Another nod.

“Did he tell you what kind of mission?”

“Nope, just that Dr. Do is proposing it.”

“I see,” Tao said. They fell silent until Tao added, “Man’s a visionary, but even I think he’s going too far with this one.”

Chanyeol quirked his brows. “Why’s that?”

They pulled up to the lower platform and Tao expertly parked the hovercraft on the metal foundation. He raised his visor, exposing only his face as he said, “Go to his forum and see for yourself.”

With that, he guided Chanyeol to the lift and pressed the floor button before stepping back out onto the platform. “Good luck out there and come visit again soon.”

“Wait, am I not seeing you again?” Chanyeol asked, holding the doors open with his arm.

Tao shook his head, “Nah, I’m a permanent station here. Can’t step foot back on Earth and this planet has what I liked best about it.” He smiled and backed away before turning around and lowering his visor.

Chanyeol watched him as the door closed. Damn.    
  
  
  
  
  
Junmyeon was waiting outside the elevator doors with a cheery, but tired smile on his face. His hair was flopped over his forehead, dark roots visible for the first time and Chanyeol still found it charming. He bit his lip before shyly greeting him with a nod of his head as the two started walking. "Hey."

"You're a sight for sore eyes," Junmyeon said with a wink. "I've got the observatory all set up for you."

Chanyeol frowned. "Oh, you're not staying with me?"

Junmyeon started to shake his head but then sighed, "Ah, fuck sleep. I've been waiting for this since we got here."

"Really?"

Junmyeon nodded. "Yeah, I see the way you look when you talk about them." 

Unsaid words hung in the silence between them. They walked close to each other, arms bumping into each other every so often until very carefully, Junmyeon's hands slipped into Chanyeol's. He said nothing and did nothing at first – leaving his hand limp. Then, Chanyeol gave it a squeeze and Junmyeon glanced up at him, question on his face, and pursed his lips. Stillness seemed to envelop them, but not in a negative way, just in that I'm-too-scared-to-talk-because-I-might-say-something-stupid kind of way.   
  
When they arrived at the observatory, Junmyeon pulled his hand free to push open the door. Chanyeol closed his in a fist, hyperaware of the absence of Junmyeon's touch. It'd been so long since he'd held hands with someone that even just that short amount of time had set Chanyeol's heart to hummingbird speeds.

"This is it," Junmyeon said, gesturing to the room.

It wasn't quite as nice as the one back on Gliese, but it was cozy. It had several large navigation panels, spanning about three feet in length with numerous controls on them. In the middle of the room was a giant viewfinder, one big enough for two people to look into. Chanyeol walked up and touched the surrounding metal, feeling a bit nostalgic. He hadn't seen this model in years. It was the Oculus 290, a telescope that had been popular back when he was first getting into the stars back in high school. 

He whistled under his breath, feeling his eyes prickle a bit. Everything was hitting him all at once. How he fell in love with the stars, the first time he'd gone to space camp and the astronomer who had let him play with the controls. He hadn't been able to find anything then, but he remembered begging his parents for a telescope the moment he got back home for months until they finally caved. 

After that, he would only ever be found out on the deck at night, eyes trained to the sky as he slowly and carefully began mapping the stars. It had been first on napkins or scraps of paper he had found back in his room. But after his first official documentation of the Big Dipper, his mother had surprised him with an ancient almanac and Chanyeol's fate as a celestial cartographer had been sealed.

There was something romantic about those maps. The way the paper had aged over the years and the faint drawings behind each chart. Some had pictures of space dragons and others, Greek Gods. They usually matched the constellations but sometimes, they did not, and that was what hooked Chanyeol.

He turned back to Junmyeon, eyes glistening. "You have no idea what-"

Junmyeon smiled, walking closer as the door shut behind them. "Then show me."

Chanyeol blinked and nodded. "Okay, come here." He stood aside and gestured for Junmyeon to stand in front of him. "Look into the viewfinder and tell me what you see."

Junmyeon leaned over the panel, lips parted as he squinted. "I don't see anything?"

Chanyeol checked his and chuckled, the telescope had not been deployed yet. He started to begin the deployment sequence but instead opted for teaching Junmyeon how to do it. It was tense, and Chanyeol found himself holding his breath with every slight move that Junmyeon made. He was nearly flush against him, searching for the proper buttons after Chanyeol described them and then hesitantly pressing them until slowly, the station rumbled as the shield opened and the long scope protruded out. Now they could see the stars.

It went on like this for a while, Chanyeol directing Junmyeon, carefully holding himself back but also being close enough to smell the faint scent of his shampoo. He enjoyed the bit of wonder on Junmyeon's face as he looked through the viewfinder, following Chanyeol's coordinates and actually seeing with his own eyes the constellations that Chanyeol had grown so used to in Gliese's backyard. 

It was that wonder, that awe, that had Chanyeol's brain thinking things it shouldn't have been. Things like: how good Junmyeon smelled and how warm he felt standing this close. Or even how soft the back of his hands were when Chanyeol had to place his over them to guide him in pushing the levers. But most of all, Chanyeol had been staring at the back of his neck, that little sliver of exposed skin that looked almost [insert faint tan color here] against the stark white of his dress shirt. That little sliver where the blond of his hair faded into the black of his roots and curled a bit. 

And suddenly, Chanyeol was touching it, caressing Junmyeon's nape with his thumb. He hadn't meant to, but his hands had a mind of their own and then Junmyeon was turning around and they were frozen, face to face, Junmyeon pressed against the navigation panels like some type of deja vu.

Only this time, this time, there was no hesitation on Junmyeon's part as he circled his arms around Chanyeol's shoulders and stood on his tip toes. There wasn't even the slightest bit of hesitation when their mouths collided and Chanyeol's entire being supernovaed. 

Being with Junmyeon was like being a newborn star, engulfing the cosmic gas and growing and growing until he was so big he exploded into light. Hands roamed his chest, clutching, grasping, clinging to him like a drowning man, and maybe they were both drowning. Gulping for air as they parted. Mouths swollen and tingling. Chanyeol pressed his forehead against Junmyeon's, lightly caressing his cheek and whispering, "What are we doing?"

Junmyeon's response was shaky, like the last leaf at the end of autumn. "I- I don't know."

And the truth was, Chanyeol didn't know either, but somehow he felt like this was right. Like Junmyeon was right. That somehow in the grand scheme of the universe, they had been brought together for the single purpose of completing each other. It was overwhelming and quite frankly, too stupid for Chanyeol to say aloud, but he did it anyway. "I think, I'm falling for you."

Junmyeon gasped, eyes darting all around Chanyeol's face, finding the smallest of freckles and connecting the dots until he could read what had been so clear on his face from the first time they met. "Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

#### [Present]: December 2nd, Year 1

* * *

 

Chanyeol watched from one of the rounded windows as they approached the station in all its glory. Each of the fifty decks were lit up and bustling even from their distance. A strange melancholy had filled him as they grew closer, strange in the sense that it had been weeks since Chanyeol had felt it, but he knew exactly why he did. And no matter how much he tried to shake it, he could not get rid of the feeling that today was going to suck.

Junmyeon was sitting next to him in the hallway, leaning back on his hands while Chanyeol was on his stomach gazing out the window. He rolled over to face Junmyeon and sighed, not sure what to say or how to say what he thought he wanted to say. He’d enjoyed their time on the shuttle. All the times they stole away to kiss in the shadows of a pipe or the soft looks they shared when around other people. Chanyeol smiled goofily at Junmyeon. He was pretty much head over heels at this point.

“I know,” Junmyeon replied.

“Do you?” Chanyeol asked, scrutinizing his face.

“Yeah,” Junmyeon said.

He crossed his legs and gripped his ankles. “It's been a nice few weeks, but when we get to the station we must be professional.”

Chanyeol balked. That wasn't what he had been thinking about. But now Junmyeon’s mood over the last hour made sense. The lingering touches, the forlorn stares, the way he seemed to hover around Chanyeol like this might be his last chance to spend time with him. In his mind, it was.

“What do you mean?”

Junmyeon chewed his lip before replying. “Just that I don't want either of us to get in trouble, so I think it's best that we don't let  _ this _ get out of hand.”

He could feel panic rising in his chest. “Why? You're not technically my boss anymore.  I'm not on a mission with you, I'll just be at the station with you. What are you saying?” Chanyeol asked. 

“People will talk,” Junmyeon stated simply. Then he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Chanyeol's lips. “I can't afford to have rumors going around and I don't want people thinking I gave you special treatment,” he said against them.

Chanyeol shook his head. “So? It's just dating, it's not like we can get in trouble for that.”

“I'm a director.”

“Half of the directors are married.”

Junmyeon didn't have an answer to that. He just stared into Chanyeol's eyes, hand on his cheek.

Then, it dawned on him. “You're not doing this to push me away because of the Jongin thing right? I told you I'm breaking up with him. We're just meeting in person so I can make it final. I don't like leaving loose ends, you know that.”

Junmyeon’s hand tensed against Chanyeol's cheek before he let it fall to his lap. He looked away, eyes clouding.

“Just… let's be professional, okay?”

Chanyeol pursed his lips. Why was Junmyeon doing this? Why couldn’t he just let them continue doing what they had been? Chanyeol thought everything had been going great.

“So what am I supposed to do? Pretend like the last few weeks didn't happen? Can we not even get lunch together anymore?”

Junmyeon shook his head. He looked just to the left of Chanyeol's face like he couldn’t meet his eyes. “We still can,” he said hardly above a whisper. Chanyeol didn’t believe him.

Then he stood and brushed his hands off on his slacks. He touched the crown of Chanyeol's head as he passed him on his way out the room. “I’ll see you on the station.”

Chanyeol didn't look up.

  
  


This time when Chanyeol stepped onto the loading dock, he didn’t feel the awe he had all those months ago. In fact, as he searched for Junmyeon’s blond head of hair, he felt a weight form on his shoulders, making them slope down as he caught sight of said blond disappearing into the hallway. He sighed and pulled up Jongin’s name on his contacts list. He sent him a ping, letting him know he’d made it back to the station and that when he got to the station, they should talk over drinks. He didn’t plan on getting back together, but he knew he’d need a little liquid courage to break things off.

He dragged his feet as he made his way to the top deck, figuring he may as well throw himself into some work. 


	8. Chapter 8

#### [Present]: January 12th, Year 2

* * *

 

Chanyeol heard the telltale ping of a message being sent to him. He glanced at his wristband and touched it, making the holographic screen display before him. One look at the name and Chanyeol bit his lip. He had been avoiding him since he landed on the station, despite inviting him for drinks. But clearly, he could no longer do that and he decided that he may as well get it over with now. 

Work today had been like pulling teeth and Chanyeol felt like all he had left were gums. He stood up from his desk, pushed the maps aside and then lightly banged his forehead against it. Why did everything have to happen all at once?

They agreed to meet in the main atrium’s bar. Chanyeol got there first and ordered one of the strongest drinks they had. He kind of just wanted to forget everything of the last few weeks. Just to numb himself a bit. Junmyeon had been darting into his office every time they crossed paths in the hallway, and Chanyeol could no longer pretend that it didn’t hurt. He just wished that they could talk.

People in lab coats rushed around Chanyeol, some with stethoscopes hanging off their necks and others carrying clipboards. People in engineering coats walked by as well, most notably a smaller guy with broad shoulders. He paused and stared directly behind Chanyeol, as though he had seen the very light of the sun enter the room.

Chanyeol turned around and gave Jongin a very weak smile, already forgetting the guy he had just seen. He had to get this over with very quickly before he lost his nerve, or before the alcohol made his judgment impaired.

The moment Jongin was next to him, Chanyeol took both his hands and closed his eyes. “I don’t know how to even begin to say this.” He opened his eyes to see Jongin’s pensive expression.

Jongin nodded his head slightly, pushing his luggage closer to his leg to keep it from falling over. “It’s okay, I kinda figured it out. I was hoping I was imagining things, but, I get it.”

“Look, I’m really sorry,” Chanyeol started.

Jongin pulled his hands from Chanyeol’s and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s cool,” he swallowed and wet his lips. “Sometimes things just don’t work out. I just hope we can be mature about this and not let it affect our work.”

“Me too,” Chanyeol whispered. “I hope we can be friends?”

Jongin looked around the room as if he was holding back his emotions by not looking at Chanyeol. He fiddled with the tag on the suitcase handle. “Um, yeah, sure.”

Chanyeol frowned. This wasn’t exactly how he wanted to do this, but he knew that if he didn’t just rip off the band-aid then he never would. “If...if you need someone to show you around, I don’t mind-”

Jongin flashed an empty smile at him and started backing away, “I don’t think that’s the best idea. But I’ll see you around, Park Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol watched him walk away, dragging his bag behind him. He felt like shit, but now that that was officially done, he could go tell Junmyeon and  _ maybe _ they could finally talk? Now that things were over? They hadn’t really seen each other the past two weeks – Junmyeon always had a meeting during lunch and Chanyeol had ended up getting rather busy looking into other missions to take. He had gone to the Io forum about a week ago but decided that staying in the solar system wasn’t exactly in his field of interest. He wanted to chart alien stars from alien skies. 

When Chanyeol arrived at Junmyeon’s office, it was empty. It was in complete disarray as usual, but the light was off and the desk looked like it hadn’t been touched in hours. Chanyeol entered the office, looking around his desk for any clues and saw a single sheet of paper sticking out from a pile of manila folders. It had the logo for the Io mission on it.

Junmyeon was leaving and he hadn’t even told Chanyeol where he was going. That hurt, but Chanyeol couldn’t focus on that as he barged out of Junmyeon’s office and ran towards the elevator. If he could just catch him before he boarded, maybe they could talk things out quickly. Or he could at least see him off before he left.

The ride down to the fiftieth deck was excruciating for Chanyeol. He rehearsed what he wanted to say to Junmyeon a million times before the ding had notified him he had reached the proper level. He shot out of the doors and ran all the way down the large hall towards the docking ports.

People rushed everywhere, some carrying large blocks of furniture and running from port to port. Some people were gathered in small groups, talking amongst each other. Just about everyone was wearing their spacesuits and that made it a little more difficult to find Junmyeon, but when Chanyeol finally spotted him, he sprinted towards him shouting his name.

“Junmyeon wait!”

The blond paused in the line and stepped out, just as the others filed in despite his absence. He gave Chanyeol a surprised but wilted look. 

Chanyeol came to a stop, bracing his hands on his knees as he panted. “W-why… why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?” He glanced up at him. Junmyeon’s dark circles were even more prominent against the gaunt of his cheeks. Seems he hadn’t been faring well either and that made Chanyeol feel a bit better. That he hadn’t been suffering alone.

Junmyeon sighed hollowly. “Because I suck at goodbyes.”

Chanyeol smiled wryly, “Yeah, you do.”

“Look-”

“I-”

Air rushed out of Chanyeol’s nose. “You first.”

Junmyeon took Chanyeol’s hand and laced his fingers through. “I made a mistake in pushing you away, I’m sorry.” He brought the back of Chanyeol’s hand to his lips. “Can we start again?”

Chanyeol felt the smile crack before he could stop it. He wanted to say no. He wanted to be angry with Junmyeon, but he fell victim to the tilt of his smile. He was utterly and wholly smitten. “But you’re leaving in, like, ten seconds.”

“ _ Last call for boarding. Dr. Kim, please board the shuttle. _ ”

Junmyeon pursed his lips as he glanced back at the open door. “I won’t be gone long, I promise.” Then he leaned up on his tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss on Chanyeol’s lips. “Wait for me, please?”

Chanyeol stood there like a dummy for a full fifteen seconds. He touched his mouth, checking if what had happened had actually happened. They tingled, or maybe he was imagining it. But it meant something. Something that made his heart pound and his stomach do those funny little somersaults. He stepped back, watching as the shuttle door closed and grinned goofily.


	9. Chapter 9

#### [Flashback 3]: July 7th, Year 1

* * *

 

It was one of those days where Chanyeol was feeling a little lonely aboard the space station. Yet, instead of sending out a ping to Jongin, he decided to hit Junmyeon up. Under the guise of professionalism, the message was brief, but Chanyeol could not deny the little flutter in his stomach when Junmyeon answered right away. He was to go to his office as soon as he could and Junmyeon would take him on a personal tour of his favorite places on the station.

Junmyeon's office wasn't too far from Chanyeol's living quarters. Just a short elevator ride and a brisk walk away and he was standing outside a door that read: Kim Junmyeon, Lead Director of Missions and Molecular Physicist, Ph.D.

Chanyeol let out a low whistle. He hadn't asked Junmyeon what his profession was before, so seeing it in front of him made his chest feel tight. Not in an uncomfortable way, but in a way that told Chanyeol he may have trouble down the road. He liked smart men, the smarter the better and there was no use denying it. Still, he had Jongin, so he needed to tread these waters carefully.

The door opened and out stepped Junmyeon, dressed down in nice fitting slacks and a tucked in white button-down. His blond hair was styled up and away from his face as usual and he had a cheery smile bunching his cheeks.

"Chanyeol! I wasn't expecting you so soon, but I'm glad you came," he said, giving Chanyeol's arm a gentle touch.

Chanyeol smiled in return. "I was feeling lonely," he answered truthfully.

Junmyeon’s expression softened. "Ah, yeah that's... pretty common here. Space can be so isolating. Even with several thousand people all on the same ship."

"Yeah, it's like we're all so caught up in our work, we forget we're human," Chanyeol responded as they started walking.

“Work is often everyone’s first priority here,” Junmyeon replied.

Junmyeon was quite a deal shorter than him. Short enough that he could see the top of his head. He found himself wondering if his hair would feel soft if he rested his chin atop it and shook the thoughts from his mind, feeling embarrassed.

  
  


The first stop they made was to the specimen room – of which, the word room did it no justice. It was a huge area with ceilings that vaulted high enough for Chanyeol to lose sight of the ceiling to darkness and wide enough to hold an Olympic sized pool. In the center were several strange-looking lifts with two protruding arms centered in the front.

According to Junmyeon, it housed hundreds of alien species, that they had taken from a different planet. Given that the Board of Interstellar Ethics had banned most specimen collection except for those that can be taken care of in as close to their home ecosystem as possible, most of the specimens were small and sealed in tiny self-sustained biomes for study.

Lining the walls were rows upon rows of spherical glass biomes. Some were as large as five feet in diameter and others were small enough to fit inside a tennis ball. The ones at eye level had small labels on them denoting where they were from, what species lived inside, and when they were brought to the station.

"This is one of my favorite places. I don't always get to go on all the missions, but being able to see what each world out there holds always fascinates me." Junmyeon's eyes lit up as he glanced around the room, tiny white lights filling their reflection.

Chanyeol's fingers itched to draw him. He looked like he was gazing upon the most beautiful collection of stars and Chanyeol wanted to capture this moment of pure unadulterated wonder if only for a moment longer.

"I get that," Chanyeol said after he regained his wits. He was really losing it today. But he blamed it on his loneliness. He should have called Jongin, but he had told him to get closer to Junmyeon, so he was doing just that.

Junmyeon grinned. "I bet you do. Come," he waved Chanyeol over to the lift in the center of the room. "Let me show you one of my favorites."

Chanyeol stepped onto the lift carefully. It felt sturdy under his feet. He gripped the side railing as Junmyeon squeezed around him and closed the gate, mumbling "Safety first."

Chanyeol turned around to see what he was doing and they ended up face to face, Junmyeon pressed against the latched gate door. Neither moved. Neither so much as breathed. And Chanyeol could feel Junmyeon's heartbeat clamoring under his skin. Redness tinted his face and Junmyeon's eyes widened as he babbled incoherent phrases and stumbled over Chanyeol's feet which seemed to have both grown five sizes as well as glued themselves firmly to the platform floor.

"I'm sorry!" Chanyeol yelped and tried to move back a step, but his heel slipped and he was going down and suddenly Junmyeon was falling down with him.

They were a tangled mess of limbs on the lift, Chanyeol's legs wide and Junmyeon half straddling his lap. His blond hair had fallen out of shape a bit, a lock decorating his forehead and Chanyeol moved to swipe it out of the way when deja vu hit him. 

He sat there, frozen, staring up at Junmyeon's red face, knowing his matched the same shade and then looked away, letting out a hiss of air between his teeth. His heart felt like it was going to explode from his chest, and his pants felt a bit tighter than usual as well, but none of that compared to the tingle that ran through his arm and straight to his stomach when he eventually did swipe that lock of hair away and Junmyeon's face just kind of melted for the tiniest of moments before he realized what was going on and cleared his throat as he scrambled off of Chanyeol.

Chanyeol remained on the ground, wetting his lips with a dart of his tongue and trying to catch his breath. This had been a close call. A really close call and yet, he could not shake the feeling that something was bubbling under the surface. 

Jongin's face crossed his mind and guilt made him turn away, staring at the orbs lining the walls as he talked himself down. It was a simple accident. And colleagues could touch each other occasionally. It wasn't like he had kissed him or had crossed the line into erogenous zones. No. He simply corrected a lock of hair and that was totally innocent, right?

"Um," Junmyeon said with his back turned to Chanyeol. He was wiping his hands on his pants and from Chanyeol's position on the ground, he could see they were trembling. "Please stand up so I can fasten your safety strap."

Chanyeol did as he was told and held his breath as Junmyeon's small hands quickly fastened a harness and strap to the railing on the lift. His hands came dangerously close and with every passing second, Chanyeol felt like he was getting lightheaded. "Have people fallen from this thing?"

Junmyeon shook his head no and when he glanced up at Chanyeol, he paused, as though he was really seeing him for the first time. His lips parted and he blindly tried to fasten the buckle without looking away before Chanyeol reached down to help him and Junmyeon returned to the task at hand. "No, but we have to take every precaution."

After Chanyeol was secured, Junmyeon walked over to the other side, leaving a half foot of distance between them as he muttered under his breath. Keeping his eyes trained on the ground, he asked, "How's Jongin?"

Chanyeol inhaled sharply, caught off guard but answered dutifully. "He's good, why are you asking?"

More muttered words before Junmyeon gave him a tight smile, "Just curious. Are you two serious?" He added as he started fiddling with the levers on the lift.

Slowly they began ascending and Chanyeol studied Junmyeon's face closely. "I don't know? I mean, I like him and we're trying this long distance thing, but..." he trailed off as he noticed how tight Junmyeon was gripping the lever. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

Junmyeon shook his head. "No, I'm too busy for it to be fair. I wouldn't want to subject anyone to my particular brand of crazy."

"You're not crazy," Chanyeol said with a small laugh.

"That's because you hardly know me," Junmyeon quipped.

"Well I'm trying to get to know you, aren't I?" Chanyeol leaned over to nudge him and the lift stuttered for a second before continuing the ascent.

Junmyeon stared at him, lips tucking themselves into a line. After a moment he sighed. "I guess you are. But I'll have you warned, work is my first and only love."

Chanyeol scoffed. "Ain't that the truth."

Junmyeon gave him a side-long glance, a smile tugging at his face. "Guess this place attracts a certain type of person."

"You're telling me," Chanyeol replied.

The lift came to a stop about fifty feet in the air. Chanyeol looked down and felt his stomach turn a bit. He liked being up high and even though the lift seemed safe – it was connected to a large cylindrical post that moved it up and down –  he felt a little vulnerable being up here like this. But all that faded when Junmyeon started pressing buttons on the navigation pane and the two arms in front started moving, hydraulic sounds echoing softly as it picked up a beach ball sized orb and brought it to the lift. It was opaque and Chanyeol wondered how they would be able to see inside. Once it was attached, a new panel opened on the navigation pane and a holographic screen displayed a small menu. Junmyeon quickly went through the options until the sphere was locked in place and they were slowly descending.

"Isn't it redundant for us to go up with it?" Chanyeol asked once they were back on solid ground. He started to unfasten the safety belt, but Junmyeon's hand grabbed his and he stopped, skin feeling like it had burned at his touch.

"We're not done yet," Junmyeon said with a slight smile.

The lift creaked and suddenly they were moving forward instead of up. It wasn't too slow of a speed, but definitely faster than Chanyeol had anticipated, so he held onto the railing as they zipped through a door that opened just in time. The room they were in right now, was all white, save for a square space about the size of the lift's platform in the center. When they reached there, it stopped and the light dimmed.

"I'm going to connect us to the cameras inside the biome. Then you'll truly understand why I love this place," Junmyeon said.

He was right. The moment they connected to the feed, the room around them lit up in a red hue. Red sands, red trees, red skies painted the walls. It wasn't so much as blood-red like a nightmare, but more of a scarlet filter had been draped over a photograph. Everything was a varying shade of red. Chanyeol slowly turned around, only stopping when the safety belt restricted him and leaned over the railing.

"That's inside the biome?"

Junmyeon nodded. "It's a bit like going to the planet itself. Granted we can only have the smallest of creatures in these, so the food chain is a bit different than the one on the planet, but..." he trailed off.

Chanyeol watched him search the skies like he was looking for some type of answer. Whether he found it or not, Chanyeol wasn't sure, but he found himself doing the same. They stood in silence, just observing the red planet when a small creature came into view. It looked a bit like a newt, only it was incredibly small. It walked across the small plain of sand and plopped into the water where it swam, arms to its sides and tail cutting the water behind it. It dragged its mouth along the sediment, kicking up a plume of debris and small blue specks dotted across the cloudy water. Chanyeol gasped. The bright blue was the only non-red shade in this entire biome and they were just tiny specks. Little dots that floated – no swam – away from the newt-creature until they were swallowed up into its tiny maw.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Junmyeon said. "The circle of life is nearly the same on every planet."

Chanyeol nodded, goosebumps forming on his arms. The hairs stood up and when he smoothed a hand over his forearm, he could feel each individual bump on his skin. "What planet was this?"

"It's nicknamed the Red Nightmare. We sent a team there not too long ago and ever since they brought this back, I can't get enough of this little  _ tylotorubrum _ ," Junmyeon said. He tore his gaze away from the scene just long enough to meet Chanyeol's eyes. "I tend to come here a lot when I feel alone. Something soothes me about knowing that no matter how far away I am, I'm never truly alone. There are millions of planets out there, just waiting to be discovered and studied. And each little piece that we bring back, fills the void, you know?"

Chanyeol did know. He sighed. He knew all too well. That feeling of being so small and infinitesimal. Like he didn't matter because he was just one in a few billion people, but the stars, the stars were to him what this room was to Junmyeon. 

"Yeah." 

He leaned against the railing, watching Junmyeon more than he was watching the scenery around them change. One day, he wanted to show Junmyeon the stars. He had a feeling he would be able to truly see them as he did.


	10. Chapter 10

#### [Present]: March 14th, Year 2

* * *

 

In the months that it had been since Junmyeon left, Chanyeol had fully thrown himself into work. He occasionally saw people he knew around, namely Kyungsoo and his old basketball buddy Yixing – who he had learned was the Head of the ‘Head of Directors’ for the station – and Jongin. They shared passing smiles and pleasantries and Chanyeol hoped that they'd be okay one day. Jongin wasn't a bad guy, he was just the wrong guy at the wrong time and that was all he could say about that. But still, seeing him in the hallways no longer brought the dread to his stomach. At least not like it used to. So maybe they really could be friends?

It was just about time for Chanyeol to grab himself some dinner when he heard the announcement that another mission was set to depart today. It had been one that he'd seen Jongin attend but had not actually gathered the gumption to ask him about it, not after he saw him talking to a shorter brunette the entire time. It didn't make him feel jealous, no, in fact, he was happy for him. But still, he remembered vaguely seeing his name on the sign-up sheet and figured he could at least go see him off before he left.

Gathering his things, Chanyeol slung his pack over his shoulder and leisurely walked the long trek from the astronomy district of the station to the elevators. The designers must have really wanted all astronomers to get extra exercise since they spent most of the time just sitting on their butts doing equations, studying various celestial bodies, or generally being sedentary. He didn't mind the walk, not really, but after sitting in the same position for the last three hours, his shoulders were beginning to ache.

As he boarded the empty elevator, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and used his nose to press the menu option to bring up the holographic screen so he could send Junmyeon a ping. 

"Hey, I miss you." 

It was short, sweet, and to the point. He smiled as the doors opened and he stepped out into the chaos of the loading deck. People swarmed around him, running in every which way. He narrowly avoided slamming into a guy wearing casual clothing sprinting the opposite direction screaming "Get the fuck out of the way!" with one arm raised football style.

Chanyeol snickered and paused by one of the many advertisement screens in the hallway. They were new additions, dotting the white walls in even intervals. Various ads played over them, some displaying new missions that had been proposed, others depicting pictures of the newest resort planets. Gliese was on one of them with the words: Book Now! Tickets are going fast! flashing in bright colors. Chanyeol could hardly believe it'd been nearly five months since he had landed on that planet. Part of him wished he could go back, if only just to check up on Tao and see how he was doing. Maybe he should send him a ping as well?

About five minutes passed with Chanyeol lollygagging around the hallway before the telltale sirens started going off. The same dude from before, barreled through the crowd, now wearing a space suit – one of the newer ones that were even more form-fitting and aerodynamic. Chanyeol hugged the wall, watching him slip through the closing doors with just a second left to board. The guy really liked to cut it close, huh?

Apparently so did Chanyeol. Because he completely missed the opportunity to get up to the observation deck in time to see the shuttle leave. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided maybe it was time for dinner after all.   
  
  
Dinner was an okay affair. Chanyeol still missed being able to catch dinners and lunches with Junmyeon but he'd grown used to taking his food over to the small group of friends he had made. Byulyi was already deep in the telling of a story, her hand on the thigh of another girl's, who was smiling and giggling profusely. 

Chanyeol plopped his tray down and stuck his tongue out at Byulyi who flipped him off for interrupting her story. Next to him was a smaller man named Minseok, and another smiling guy was sitting across from him. He was a new addition to the group, Jongdae, who had taken to more of the physical side of the station's job opportunities since returning from Gliese. His hair was always a bit disheveled and sometimes his face was smudged with a bit of grime, but he always wore it with a curly grin. He was the one to clap a hand on Chanyeol's shoulder.

"How's it been, String Bean?"

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. "Just because you bench five pounds more than me doesn't mean I'm a string bean."

Jongdae winked at him. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, love."

They were usually like this. Bickering like long lost brothers and Chanyeol was grateful for it. He was glad that Byulyi had introduced them during one of her visits to the station. She was originally from a different space station, one that was smaller and usually only did Intersolar missions, but she contracted out to the SM Space Station frequently enough that Chanyeol still got to pick fun at her.

"Anyway. Before I was rudely interrupted by Yeolie over there– So Yongsun and I were crawling through the bush right? And let me remind you, this planet was full of jungles so basically all we could do was crawl and I wasn’t complaining because Yongsun was going first so..."

Chanyeol tuned her out as a ping arrived from Junmyeon. He shoveled a bite of food in his mouth before excusing himself and finding a less occupied area of the cafeteria. With a quick glance to make sure no one was watching him, he opened it.

Junmyeon's tired face appeared. He had forgone the blond in his hair for a more russet color and Chanyeol was really liking it. It brought so much color to his face. He smiled at the screen before saying, " _ I miss you too." _

And Chanyeol had another feeling of deja vu. He watched as Junmyeon stared into the screen, sighing and huffing like he had more to say but was holding back. Finally, after a few seconds, he said, " _ I'll be back soon, but if you can find a way to get to the communications room, I'd really like to talk to you without the delay. _ " For the briefest of moments, Chanyeol's stomach dropped but then Junmyeon added, " _ It's nothing bad, I just really miss seeing your reactions in real time. _ "

Chanyeol glanced around, seeing his group of friends now staring at him curiously. He closed the ping and walked back over, grabbing Minseok's shoulders and massaging them. "If I can get these knots out your shoulders, will you sneak me into Communications?"

Minseok tilted his head back, grinning mischievously. "What for?"

Chanyeol played innocent. "I dunno, talk to my family? You know the service here sucks."

Minseok rolled his eyes. "I'll do it if you tell me the real reason why."

Chanyeol pursed his lips. "Okay, but only you!" He narrowed his eyes at the rest of the group. "You guys don't know how to keep a secret."

"I do too!" Byulyi yelled.

"No you don't," Yongsun chided, poking her nose.

Jongdae simply raised a brow and Chanyeol gave him a wary look. He already knew, but he wasn't supposed to let the others know that he knew. So Chanyeol decided to ham it up a bit.

"Especially you Jongdae. We all know your curly little smile gives away all the secrets."

"Who me? I would never!" Jongdae faked affrontedness. “Guys, I know I shouldn’t tell you this, but sometimes at night, Chanyeol...”

Chanyeol grinned, thankful for him playing along and as he and Minseok left the table, he clapped him on the back. He knew he could always count on him.   
  


  
  
Communications was a bit like the astronomy floor of the station. It was near the top and shared the majority of the level with Navigation. Minseok used his badge to gain him access to one of the smaller private rooms and slipped in behind him after checking the hallway for possible spectators. After making sure the coast was clear, he closed the door and immediately turned on

Chanyeol. "Spill it."

Chanyeol bit his lip. "I can't. It'll get us in trouble."

"So it is a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or partner! I knew it! Tell me everything!"

Chanyeol shrank back. "Can I tell you after I talk to him?"

Minseok pouted, thinking on it for a moment, "Fine. I'll keep watch. But you have to promise to tell me everything. You already know everything about me and Luhan."

"Who I have yet to officially meet," Chanyeol reminded him. "How do I know he even exists?"

Minseok shrugged. "Not my fault he went on a mission three days after I got back from mine."

"But you still care," Chanyeol added. 

"Of course I do, I love him," Minseok said matter of factly.

"But you still haven't told him?"

Minseok looked away. "You have twenty minutes." He slipped out the door.

Twenty minutes was all he needed. After setting himself up at a small station, he called Junmyeon and waited for him to pick up.

"Come on, come on, come on," he whispered.

Finally, the screen blinked to life and Junmyeon's face was directly in front of him. Chanyeol reached out, fingers meeting nothing but air and disrupting the holographic screen. "I wish I could touch you."

Junmyeon smiled, "I know."

They stared at each other for about a minute before Chanyeol remembered he was on borrowed time. "What is it that you wanted to say?"

Junmyeon perked up. "I'll only be here for about two more months and then we can be together."

Chanyeol studied his face. He had gotten used to Junmyeon's tells at this point. "You're not saying something."

Junmyeon wet his lips and sighed. "We have to go to HR as soon as I am back station-side."

Chanyeol nodded. That was doable. "Okay and then I can hog you for the next thirty-six hours right? You do realize I won't let you out of my sight?"

Junmyeon's cheeks reddened as he laughed. "How do you know that it won't be me, who won't let you out of my sight? I miss you just as much, if not more."

Chanyeol laughed. "Sure you do."

They went back and forth like this a few times before Chanyeol heard Minseok knock on the door, signaling he only had about a minute left. "Listen, um, I have something I really want to tell you when you get back."

"You finally got that sixth toe removed?" Junmyeon teased.

"Oh yeah, I kept it in a vial for you to wear around your neck," Chanyeol responded.

"Sexy," Junmyeon said with a grin.

Chanyeol laughed. "Okay but seriously, so just wear your big boy pants, okay?"

Junmyeon stood up, revealing that he was in his boxers. Chanyeol's face went aflame and he swallowed thickly. "I'm always wearing them."

"Right," Chanyeol choked out.

Minseok knocked on the door again and Chanyeol scrambled. "I'm out of time, but I'll send you a ping....regarding those...um....yeah."

Junmyeon smirked, "I'll be looking forward to it."

Chanyeol cut the connection just as Minseok burst through the door "I caught you- awh, man!"

Chanyeol simply chuckled, as he tapped his cheeks with both hands, trying to get the heat to dissipate. "Come on, I'll tell you everything."


	11. Chapter 11

#### [Present]: May 15th, Year 2

* * *

 

Chanyeol woke up with a pencil stuck to his cheek. He had been up late into the night with the telescope trained on Jupiter, the hopes of catching Junmyeon’s shuttle heading his way fresh on his mind. But, instead, he fell asleep on top of his supplies. The only thing that had woken him up was the gentle touch on his shoulder from one of his colleagues. He shot up, eyes bleary and reading glasses askew. Junmyeon was coming back.

He swept all of his things back into his pack, signed out of the terminal he’d been using, and sprinted to the lift, hoping that this time he’d finally be able to catch the return of the shuttle on time. He’d missed each one these past two months but a part of him knew it was because he wasn’t as excited for their return as he was for this one.

The large garage-like airlock door was just opening as Chanyeol pushed to the front. He squeezed through and pressed his hands against the door, heart ramming against his rib cage. It had been too long since he last saw him. Too long since they had last been able to breathe the same air. Too long for them to have been apart after all they'd been through, and Chanyeol was ready to close the distance. 

It was funny that somehow this time around, he could handle them being apart, more so than getting lonely. But he knew that was largely because he had a steady friend group that kept him safe from the crippling loneliness that threatened to sink in. 

The doors began to open and Chanyeol ducked under them the moment he could and ran right to the shuttle doors, bouncing on his feet. His pack jingled from all the movement, but the second the first few people began disembarking, Chanyeol stopped moving. He held his breath as if he couldn't believe that the time had finally come. 

When he saw a man with the right stature come down the platform, Chanyeol wasted no time. He swept him up in his arms, spinning him around as Junmyeon raised the visor on his helmet. Their lips met and Chanyeol swore that Junmyeon was like a black hole, sucking in his entire being. He was gone, lost in the softness of his mouth, the taste of him, the gentle roll of his tongue against his teeth. Chanyeol inhaled, finally setting Junmyeon down on his feet but not breaking the kiss. Tears streamed down his cheeks as they parted and he whispered so softly that he wasn't sure Junmyeon had even heard him. 

"I missed you so much."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Junmyeon asked, a cheeky smile on his face. He pulled his helmet off and then pulled Chanyeol close to him. "Or was it that you wanted to tell me that you love me?"

Chanyeol grinned. Junmyeon knew before he could even get the words out, so he kissed him again, this time gently, and mumbled over and over "I love you so much."

Junmyeon cradled Chanyeol's jaw, rubbing his thumbs over the apples of his cheeks. "I've been waiting so long for you to say this to me."

Chanyeol snorted. "Yeah, I suck at love."

Junmyeon shook his head. "Me too, but I'm willing to try for you."

"Does that mean there's room in your heart for something other than work?" CHanyeol teased.

"There was room for you since the day I first saw you," Junmyeon said.

They were lost in this moment. Where everything just kept moving around them. The world stopped for no one and Chanyeol was no excuse. But he didn't care. They stood there, wrapped up in each other, whispering sweet nothings and giggling to each other. 

He had waited so long for this, this feeling of content, this feeling of near explosion. Junmyeon had a gravitational pull that rivaled the largest of celestial bodies. And Chanyeol was like light, too slow to escape, but he didn't want to run, he wanted to stay right here, where soft lips kept meeting his and where gentle fingers kept twisting in his hair. He wanted this moment to last forever.

"J-Junmyeon?" A voice from behind them interrupted.

Chanyeol stepped aside to see Minseok, eyes rimmed red and nose the same color. "What happened?"

Minseok shook his head and handed him a letter before turning around and taking off back down the hallway. Chanyeol moved to go after him, but Junmyeon's grip on his arm tightened suddenly. "Wait."

Chanyeol watched as Minseok's small form disappeared through the throng of people before he glanced back at Junmyeon, heart swelling but also racing. "What is it?"

Junmyeon crumpled the paper up and gave Chanyeol a steely look. "Dr. Do's mission is missing."

Chanyeol's stomach dropped to his feet. "You can't be serious."

A muscle twitched in Junmyeon's jaw. He pulled Chanyeol behind him as he walked briskly, sending out orders over his wristband. Everything was moving so fast that Chanyeol could hardly keep up, but he said nothing and followed. It wasn't until they were inside Junmyeon's office, that he stopped and shut the door. 

"I swear the Gods hate me..." Junmyeon said looking at Chanyeol with a somewhat wilted look. "I was just about to invite you Earth-side with me for a vacation, but now I have to coordinate a rescue mission."

Chanyeol furrowed his brows. "They're going to be okay, right?"

Junmyeon pursed his lips. "Yeah, but that means I have to request for Tao."

Chanyeol's eyes widened. "I thought he was permanently stationed on Gliese?"

Junmyeon sighed. "He's our best bet. One of the few that can go rogue without the Station trying to stop him."

Chanyeol sank against the door. So much for a reunion.

"But I've already sent out the orders for that," Junmyeon sighed. He gave Chanyeol a strange look that melted into something more sensual. "I still intend to make good on that last ping I sent you."

Despite the stressful news, Chanyeol's cheeks heated. " _ Oh _ ."


	12. Chapter 12

#### [Present]: July 1st, Year 2

* * *

Tao's arrival back to the station had shaken up the status quo. Alarms went off the moment his shuttle docked with the station and Chanyeol rushed out of the room with Junmyeon trailing behind him, shirt askew.

He knew that the missing mission was due to arrive today and he had to make sure they were okay. He just needed to see and then _he_ would be okay. Just the confirmation that the rumors he'd been hearing and attempting to shield Minseok from weren't true. Luhan couldn’t be gone like that. He never even got the chance to meet him.

The moment he entered the loading deck, however, chaos ensued and the survivors of the mission were carted off by the Galactic Federation.Tao, the man himself, was being surrounded by the same people wearing all black. Orders were being shouted over the den as Chanyeol pushed through people, elbowing gently.

"Tao! Tao, what's going on?"

Tao gave the men and women surrounding him a wary look and stepped through them to Chanyeol. "Picked up the straglers, but Kyungsoo wanted to stay back. I have Sehun sweeping after me to grab him, but he hasn't been in contact with me since we entered the station's territory. All my coms have been shut down and are being monitored. It seems like some people can't forget." He sighed dramatically and spit at the armed men and women’s shoes.

Chanyeol’s eyes felt like they couldn’t get any larger but apparently, they could. "Forget what?"

Tao leaned in close and whispered, "The Mars Mission."

Chanyeol's eyes widened. "That was you?"

Tao glanced around and nodded. "Yeah, it was my schematics, but not my execution. I got out of the lawsuit by taking a deal to never enter Earth's jurisdiction and yet, here we are."

Chanyeol stood there, dumbstruck. All this time it had been Tao. That was why he couldn’t return to Earth. He was being punished for all the deaths that took place on Mars. Chanyeol blinked, unsure how to really feel. He had liked Tao but now his feelings felt complicated. But, people weren’t all good and Tao definitely seemed to have a darker side to him. Maybe.

Back on Gliese, he had been extremely particular about everyone’s jobs. He went over all of the plans himself and had others triple check him. He clearly did not want another mistake to happen, so maybe he wasn’t a bad guy.

Junmyeon joined them and touched Chanyeol's arm. "Tao, I need you to come with me," he said as he nodded at the armed individuals.

They stepped back, lowering their weapons. Chanyeol shuddered. He knew they were part of the station's security, but they were interstellar, so they didn't answer to many people, other than the head directors. The fact that Junmyeon's words had made them stand down was surprising. It seemed like he had dealt with them before.

"Sure thing, boss," Tao said. He took off his helmet, black earrings jingling and flipped off the Galactic Federation.

They left Chanyeol standing there near the platform alone. He turned and faced the galactic federation, bewildered. But they paid him no attention, instead, the commander barked out orders to secure the perimeter and to tail Junmyeon and Tao to his office. Chanyeol hung back, heart and mind racing. He was so lost.


	13. Chapter 13

#### [Present]: August 29th, Year 2

* * *

 

It was Chanyeol's first time being on this side of a forum. Usually he would watch the pitches, decide whether or not he wanted to go on the mission and end up not choosing it if he couldn't figure out where he fit in. He'd thought about taking some navigation positions again, that way he would remain nearby the planets that were further away from the station and still be able to chart the stars without any obscurity.But even then, it just hadn't called to Chanyeol like some of the missions had. 

But, when Tao sent him that ping, asking if he'd like to lead the forum in person for the next Gliese mission, Chanyeol jumped on it. He wouldn't be the mission leader persay, but due to his experience with the planet, he was getting some extra perks, like being Tao's number one back? on the station. 

Behind the scenes, the preparations for a forum was a lot of work. Chanyeol had basically made Communications his second home in order to coordinate with Tao's needs. They spent many nights getting everything they needed, every position they needed, and even the specific team they needed. Yet, because one of the most important people that Tao had needed, Luhan, had passed, they needed to find another chemist to take the job. And that had been Chanyeol's responsibility. 

He needed to court a new specialist in order to make sure that Gliese was ready for commercial visits. They were in the home stretch of construction – most of the underwater city was nearly complete – but the cost to the planet was nearing dangerous levels. Someone like Luhan would have been a huge help, but missions always had a chance to be deadly. It was why they all signed the paperwork, why they all knew the ultimate price that could be paid.

Still, this forum was going to be the one that got them that chemist. Especially since the team had been more or less chosen already. Jongin was going to be the Lead Biologist, Baekhyun was going to be the Engineer, Chanyeol was taking the mission as Head of Navigation, Minseok as the Physicist, and Junmyeon as the supervisor once more. They were Tao’s new Dream Team, and all that was missing was someone in the field of chemistry now that Sehun was taking a small vacation back Earth-side.

“Baby, relax, you got this,” Junmyeon said. “Who do you think suggested that you lead this for Tao?”

Chanyeol smiled at Junmyeon, urging his nerves to calm down and took a deep breath. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to get special treatment?”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. “What they don’t know won’t kill them. Besides, I only did it out of love, Starboy.”

Chanyeol blushed. It had been quite some time since they’d gotten together but Junmyeon still had the ability to make his cheeks go aflame with the simplest of words. He grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a hug, resting his chin on his head. “Thank you for this.”

Junmyeon was muffled against his chest, “You’re welcome.” He pushed out of the hug and gave Chanyeol a little push. “It’s show time.”

Chanyeol emerged from the back and took his place at the podium. He glanced over the room – it was nearly full – a good sign, and then saw Baekhyun and Jongin sitting on the side of the stage, hands interlaced. They definitely looked a lot better lately. He nodded at them and cleared his throat. 

"I'm sure you all know why you're here today..."


	14. Information

Hi loves! 

 

Again thank you all for reading this and leaving some love on it. ^^ For those of you wondering what happened on the "failed mission" check out the second part in this verse! It's called Wanderer One and it's the fic that inspired the entire universe~ 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> It you liked this, then please drop a comment and/or kudos~ They make my whole universe feel all warm and tingly ^^


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